Valedictorian's speech cut short by school district

KBBC - Las Vegas ^ | 6-16-06

[jwalsh07]

That would be an obvious endorsement.

Only to a fool. SCOTUS case law, the shambles that it is, on establishement jurisprudence has what's known as a common sense test.

If the Pope is invited to speak, would an outside observer think that the Pope was representing the views of himself and the Catholic Church or the government.

Admittedly a few fools would choose B but the overwhelming preponderance of people would understand that the Pope was reflecting his views.

Which group are you part of?

[PeteB570]

I see we are in the minority. She was told before the event what she could and could not say.

We had a young girl who was told at the beginning of the school year what the dress code was for graduation.

A few days before the ceremony she said she would not wear a dress and would wear pants. The principle said if she did she would not be allowed to walk over the stage and pick up her diploma.

Big stink for a day or so and then she showed up in pants. The principle stood fast and the girl did not participate.

Gheees, after all the stories and letters to the editor over the next few days you would think she was Joan of Arch.

[N. Theknow]

Please point to me where the phrase "separation of church and state" appears in the Constitution.

I was told once that it only appears in the Constitution of the former USSR.

[Wurlitzer]

"Rob McMillan: We have freedom of speech, but what about separation of church and state?"

Once again the left is allowed to frame the debate and of course lies.

As we all know separation of church and state exists NOWHERE in the US Constitution yet the J. Goebel inspired left repeats the lie so much they believe it.

References to God an Jesus in a speech by a private citizen do NOT constitute government establishing or restricting any religion.

[HostileTerritory]

I imagine if the valedictorian had said the only path to salvation is through submission to Allah, he would have had his mic shut off. It's disrespectful to Christian students who disagree to be told that their faith is wrong and sending them to hell.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

God is good. Satan is evil.

[EricT.]

Let the Rutherford Institute's lawyers teach this school what the First Ammendment ACTUALLY says.

[HostileTerritory]

I would love to see a transcript of her speech. I would guess she did more than mentioned God but also encouraged them to find in Jesus what she has found, as well, and which enabled her to succeed. It's called "bearing witness."

[mc6809e]

Cutting the mic effectively negates the speech. It's the girl's point of view, for crying out loud.

So what? She can express her point of view all she wants, but she's not allowed to use public resources to do it, especially to a captive audience.

Are you really going to align yourself with the North Koreans who are obviously running the graduations?

If I were aligned with the North Koreans, I'd be the kind of person that thought the purpose of school was to force my religious views on a captive audience during an official state ceremony. Oh, and I would get one of my best students to deliver the official message.

[sgtbono2002]

Schools being run by retards.

[stinkerpot65]

Public schools are evil.

[fr_freak]

anyone have a problem with the following

A local high school graduation ended with roars of protest after school officials turned the microphone off right in the middle of one of the valedictorian's speeches. The microphone cut out after the valedictorian at Foothill High made reference to Satan.

This kind of analogy is BS. The Constitution was created to limit the power of the federal government, so that local communities could govern themselves as they saw fit. What we have now is a bunch of left-wingers seizing upon a faulty interpretation of the Constitution, an interpretation which says that somehow the Constitution now entitles the federal government to tell local communities what they can and cannot do, as a weapon against Judeo-Christian values.

If this were a community in which Satanism was an accepted practice, then I would say that a school administrator who cut off the girl's mic for praising Satan would be out of line. However, this was a community which most assuredly would consider Satanism an affront, and therefore preventing an open celebration of that would be appropriate. If any resident of that city/county/state doesn't like it, they can move to San Francisco or Seattle, where Satanism would probably be welcomed.

What people forget, or perhaps never learned, is that the Constitution was specifically an enumeration of federal powers, and any power not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution is considered reserved to the states or to the people. So, in effect, the Constitution is a limit on the FEDERAL government. Even the first amendment states quite clearly that CONGRESS shall make no law... So, even with the interpretation that says that the amendments apply to states also, there is nothing in the First Amendment which refers to state governments, and certainly only an activist would consider a valedictorian speech including references to God to be equivalent to government passing a law endorsing a particular religion.

[highimpact]

That would be an obvious endorsement.

You confused the word "endorsement" with "estatblishment." Words mean things.

[silverleaf]

When she went "off the reservation" with her speech she should have stated that she was grateful that her CREATOR endowed her with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

It certainly would have made the mic cutoff transparent for what it was.

[Son Of The Godfather]

Who was being held "captive"?

[aligncare]

...following a dress code and being told you can't let who you are into the discussion...big difference don't you think?

[jwalsh07]

You don't know what you're talking about but if you'd care to know you can read the SCOTUS decision in Tinker.

To wit:

School administrators can only prohibit protected speech by students when it "materially and substantially interfere[s] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school."

Prohibiting a valedictorian from mentioning or witnessing during her speech is CENSORSHIP clown.

[Indy Pendance]

So what? What if the Pope was invited to be the guest speaker? Are you that afraid of an 18 year old girl that your beliefs could be altered?

[mc6809e]

...of course you don't get a free microphone. But once your told the microphone is yours...they can not 'separate' you from your core beliefs. Ones religion informs one. She should not have been censored.

The trouble is that the microphone is typically granted with the limitation that it must not be used for certain purposes. Most likely she ignored those limits that she had earlier agreed to.

[Neoliberalnot]

The Jackboots are running the schools. These people call themselves teachers of truth when really they are purveyors of PC indoctrination and assimilation. Free Speech isn't free anymore in this country and the schools are some of the worst violators of this right. Bravo for this brave, and obviously highly intelligent, young lady.