Teen loses ruling in dress code fight

A suburban San Diego teenager who was barred from wearing a T-shirt with anti-gay rhetoric to class lost a bid Thursday to have his high school’s dress code suspended.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the school could restrict what students wear to prevent disruptions.

The ruling addressed only the narrow issue of whether the dress code should be enforced pending the outcome of the student’s lawsuit.

A majority of judges said, however, that Tyler Harper was unlikely to prevail on claims that the Poway Unified School District violated his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion.

The teen sued after the district kept him out of class when he wore a shirt with the message “homosexuality is shameful.”

Washington

Spy chief discloses size of U.S. ranks

Nearly 100,000 Americans are working in intelligence in the U.S. and around the world, the nation’s spy chief says, revealing the number for the first time.

In a speech at the National Press Club marking his first year on the job, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte indicated his willingness to make some normally classified information public.

“The United States intelligence community comprises almost 100,000 patriotic, talented and hardworking Americans in 16 federal departments and agencies,” he said.

The government has long protected details about the size and budget of its spy agencies.

But some classified morsels have gotten out.

For instance, Mary Margaret Graham, Negroponte’s top deputy for intelligence collection, goofed in a speech last fall and said the overall U.S. intelligence budget is $44 billion – a number that open-government advocates have sued unsuccessfully to get.

Waco, Texas

Baylor students meet with Playboy

The world’s largest Baptist university warned students that they could be disciplined if they pose for Playboy magazine, but some still showed up to meet photographers, a publication spokeswoman said.

Playboy spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey declined to say how many Baylor University students were interviewed when the photographers set up at a hotel for two days this week, but said the turnout was less than at other schools “because Baylor is a religiously affiliated school.”

Baylor sent an e-mail reminder to students last week saying that “associating with a magazine that is clearly antithetical to Baylor’s mission would be considered a violation of the code of conduct.”

Possible sanctions could range from a warning to expulsion, said spokeswoman Lori Fogleman.