Replies

However, the Judge would be on really thin legal ice trying to classify an 18 year old high school senior chosen by fellow students to deliver remarks, or a valedictorian who earned her spot on the podium, as "a student acting in an official capacity" and prohibiting her from mentioning God or declaring that "God is dead" or declaring whether she thinks "Bush lied and people died" or that "Hillary Clinton is a traitor"......Polybius

Actually, it would seem clear under agency law that the student would be acting in the shoes of the government and so would be considered their agent.......jude24

This is no longer a hypothetical. This actually happened.

So, in this Real World case, since Megan Chapman not only mentioned God but talked at length about God in her opening remarks, how is the Judge going to penalize her and how far do you think it will go up the appellate courts before a higher Court slaps down the Judge for violating Chapman's Free Exercise Clause constitutional rights?

I am betting my money that the Judge's response to Chapman's action will be:

how is the Judge going to penalize her

If she's an agent, he can't. Respondeat superior - the school district is on the hook for the actions of their agents.

and how far do you think it will go up the appellate courts before a higher Court slaps down the Judge for violating Chapman's Free Exercise Clause constitutional rights?

The student's free exercise rights are temporarily subordinated to the State's obligation to remain religously neutral. This is cut-and-dried law, not judicial activism. You may not like it, but this is the state of the law today. (Personally, my faith is secure enough that I don't need the governemnt to enforce it.)

"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." - Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:5-6.