Senior sticks to his gun defending school photo

A Londonderry High School student whose photograph has been barred from the senior yearbook because it shows him holding a shotgun is taking his case to court, after rejecting a compromise offered by the school board.

At a hearing last Tuesday, the board voted to keep the photograph of Blake Douglass out of the section of senior portraits. Instead, said chairwoman Anne Jacoby, the board offered to print the photo of Douglass holding a skeet shooting gun on a community sports page in the yearbook.

"It is the connotation of violence that we object to," Jacoby said in a telephone interview after the hearing. "Not everyone is familiar with skeet shooting, and in today's society, post 9/11 and Columbine, we think that the right context for the picture is on a sports page."

The school board action backs a decision by the Londonderry High School yearbook editors, a group of 10 students who voted in September to ban the picture.

Douglass's attorney, Penny Dean of Concord, N.H., said she will file for an injunction in federal court to prevent the yearbook from being printed until the court rules. She also plans to file a suit that would seek a court order forcing the school district to print the picture with the senior portraits, reimburse Douglass for all costs and fees, and draft a policy that addresses such issues.

"The compromise is a red herring. It is like the old saying that freedom of speech does not stop at the schoolhouse door," said Dean in a telephone interview.

The legal fees are expected to be about $100,000 for each side. The case has attracted widespread attention, and the National Rifle Association has said it will cover Douglass's legal fees. For the school district, the taxpayers will be paying, and if the district loses, the town will be responsible for reimbursing the plaintiff.

Separately, the legal panel of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Hampshire met to discuss the case on Wednesday. Claire Ebel, executive director of the group, said she believes Douglass's First Amendment rights may have been violated. "It is laudable that the school district allows its students creativity with their senior portraits," said Ebel, pointing to examples of students posing with cars, pets, and instruments. "But they had to set standards when they started allowing these types of pictures. They cannot go back and impose standards after the fact."

Ebel went on to say that the only picture that could be banned would be one that violates the law. For example, if a student submitted a picture with full frontal nudity, the school district could ban the photo because it violates the obscenity law.

Dean is preparing the case for filing in federal court; the school board has no plans for further action on the matter.

"The school board heard loud and clear what Blake Douglass's wishes are, and we respect them," said Jacoby. "That is why we offered a compromise."

Susan Ware can be reached at ware@globe.com.