WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is rebuffing an appeal from a Michigan woman fighting a school district's ban on shirts with the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon,” a jab at then-President Joe Biden with a coded reference to profanity.
The mother of two boys says their First Amendment rights were violated when they were told to take off the sweatshirts she bought them for Christmas in 2022.
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The Supreme Court is seen Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, late Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, as the justices prepare to begin the new term next week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Supreme Court is seen at day's end in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, as the justices prepare to begin the new term next week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - A spectator wears a Let's Go Brandon shirt in the stands during the first half of the Hula Bowl NCAA college football game, Jan. 15, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
A lower court disagreed, finding that the veiled vulgarity of the phrase, which functions as a stand-in for “F-— Joe Biden,” allows schools to ban it.
The woman's attorneys argued that the decision wrongly gives school officials wide latitude to squelch political speech based on their personal ideas of what is vulgar. The phrase itself doesn't contain any swear words or sexual implications, they said.
The school district urged the justices to reject the case, arguing that messages with lewd implications have no place in school, even if they touch on political topics. There has been evidence that some students wore clothing that read “Make America Great Again” or had messages supporting President Donald Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 election to Biden, a Democrat.
The phrase originated in 2021, when people in the crowd at a NASCAR race chanted the obscenity directed at Biden and a TV sports reporter said they were calling out “Let’s Go, Brandon," apparently believing they were chanting for driver Brandon Brown, who had just won a race.
Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
The Supreme Court is seen Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, late Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, as the justices prepare to begin the new term next week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Supreme Court is seen at day's end in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, as the justices prepare to begin the new term next week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - A spectator wears a Let's Go Brandon shirt in the stands during the first half of the Hula Bowl NCAA college football game, Jan. 15, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady on Monday following the latest yo-yo moves for oil prices.
The S&P 500 ticked up by 0.3% and pulled within 0.7% of its all-time high set during the summer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 135 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.5% and was on track to set its own record.
The moves were sharper in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude swung between $100 and $103 in the morning. It was most recently at $101.94, down 0.3%.
Oil prices have been shaky because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global crude industry to return to normal. That in turn has helped push up yields in the bond market, and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged up to 5.29% from 5.28% late Friday. It’s near its highest level since 2002.
High yields can slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while also making investors feel less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other investments.
Another factor that's been pushing up yields is the strength of the U.S. economy, which grew during the spring because of continued spending by businesses on AI data centers. U.S. consumers also keep spending and driving the economy, even though they say they're getting more frustrated by the high inflation that's squeezing their finances.
A report on Monday gave a mixed update on the strength of the U.S. economy. It said that activity for real estate, transportation, finance and other businesses in the services industries grew in September for a 27th straight month. But the growth was not quite as strong as economists expected.
The report from the Institute for Supply Management also said that prices U.S. services businesses are paying for materials and services grew at a faster rate, which could be a discouraging signal for upcoming inflation for everyone.
The general expectation on Wall Street is that the Federal Reserve will hike its main interest rate at least once by the end of the year in hopes of reining in the fast increases for the cost of living. The Fed raised its federal funds rate last month for the first time in three years.
On Wall Street, a couple buyout announcements helped support stocks.
RXO jumped 22.5% after C.H. Robinson Worldwide said it would buy the truck brokerage business in a deal where RXO investors could get $30.25 in cash for each of their shares. C.H. Robinson fell 11.9% for the largest loss in the S&P 500.
PTC leaped 34.9% for the biggest gain in the index after Schneider Electric of France said it would pay $205 in cash for each of the software company’s shares in a deal valuing it at about $22.6 billion.
In stock markets abroad, France’s CAC 40 fell 1.1% for one of the world’s bigger losses. Worries have been rising about the French government’s big debt and its strained budget.
On the winning side of the globe was Japan, where Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4% on strength for technology stocks.
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown in New York's Financial District on Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - Signs mark the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway in New York's Financial District on Wednesday Dec.11, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
