The judge has spoken.

If you child wears clothing with an American flag on it to school on Cinco de Mayo don’t get incensed if they are sent home.

School officials are within their rights to make such a demand.

That is what Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware of San Francisco ruled this past week.

Students had sued the Morgan Hill Unified School District saying their constitutional rights to expression were being supressed especially in light of the fact those inclined to display the flag and national colors of a foreign nation to celebrate the day were allowed to do so.

Two high school students were directed by an assistant principal to either remove the American flag clothing or turn it inside out on May 5, 2010. The rationale was simple. The administrator believed that students wearing American flag clothing on the Mexican holiday would spark violence on campus.

Some have called the ruling ridiculous. It’s not.

School administrators are charged with the responsibility of assuring campuses are safe for kids to learn. Within that framework, the administrator was obviously doing what he believed was the responsible thing given the circumstances.

The problem isn’t with the assistant principal’s decision, his rationale or even the court ruling that affirmed the concept that school administrators need to have control over safety related issues. It is with society in general and the political correctness cancer that has eroded free speech in this country.

Back in the 1990s, the East Union High student newspaper Lancer did a thoughtful and measured series on the pros and cons of immigration both legal and illegal.

Hispanic students - primarily those who were the sons and daughters of farm workers - took great offense. They staged a massive walkout to protest the newspaper’s con column and demanded an apology.

Linda Frost, who was principal at the time, decided the best thing to do to deflate the situation was to give the dissenters what they wanted in order to get them back into class.

Frost for all practical purposes was the publisher of the Lancer since it existed through the funding of the Manteca Unified School District. She also had a responsibility to keep disruptions on campus at a minimum.

Her decision was wrong on several levels but not on the one that matter the most for what she was entrusted - the maintaining of a safe learning environment with minimal distractions.

Frost saw the situation as one that could have escalated and gotten out of hand.

It is important to note there was nothing racist in the con editorial. It simply questioned allowing illegals into the country. It hit home rather close to some East Union students at the time as they were illegals themselves.

In Morgan Hill, a number of Hispanic students waved the Mexican flag throughout campus on Cinco de Mayo. The American flag clothing was in response to that. It was not racist. It was political if anything. And as such it was no different than what the Hispanic students were doing with the Mexican flag.

That is where the problem lies.

Political correctness when it comes to free speech means certain classes of people can exercise their rights with immunity while others have to keep theirs in check.

It is no different that the Occupy movement.

They have the right to protest but they don’t have a right to make that right superior to all other rights of others.

The constitution does more than guarantee the right to free speech. It also confers other rights such as free travel, commerce and such that the Occupy movement is trampling on so they can magnify whatever message they are trying to convey.

The American flag clothing ruling isn’t a pure speech issue.

Instead, it is a safety issue tainted by the warped ground rules of political correctness.

This column is the opinion of managing editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA. He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209-249-3519.