This order is a later stage of the same case involving C.S., a third-grade student who was told to remove a hat showing an AR-15-style rifle and the words “COME AND TAKE IT.” In May 2025, a Sixth Circuit panel ruled that school officials could reasonably predict substantial disruption given the recent Oxford High School shooting, the presence of students affected by that tragedy, and the young age of the children.

C.S. asked the full Sixth Circuit to rehear the case. The court denied that request, so the original panel decision remained in effect. Judge Clay wrote that the panel had properly applied Tinker and stressed that the result depended on an unusual combination of facts. Judge Readler separately agreed that rehearing was not warranted but criticized parts of the panel’s reasoning, arguing that a jury could have questioned whether the school’s stated disruption concerns were genuine or developed later during litigation.

Because this is a rehearing order, it did not create a new holding that replaced the May decision. Its main significance is that the panel ruling stayed in place. The separate writings also highlight an important point for students: courts often look closely at what school officials actually knew and reasonably feared when they restricted speech, not simply at reasons offered after the fact.