Posted on 08/31/2007 9:24:03 AM PDT by Kaslin
Diploma withheld until she apologized for declaring Christian faith
A high school valedictorian is suing a Colorado school district because she was forced to publicly apologize for declaring her Christian faith and inviting students to respond to the Gospel in a speech at her graduation ceremony.
Erica Corder, who graduated from Lewis-Palmer High School near Colorado Springs in 2006, alleges in a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Liberty Counsel that the school violated her civil rights.
Corder says officials withheld her diploma until she issued an apology, and the school "continues to portray her as a student who engaged in improper conduct because she mentioned Jesus Christ during her speech."
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Government schools are evil.
If she was the school system would have let her do it and nobody here would defend her.
Any Graduation rules should be the same for everybody.
I hope she wins this one. Her speach didn’t dictate school policy, it was simply her opinion. Some of these schools are attempting to squash any opinions that don’t agree with theirs.
Christians are being martyred around the world right now today, and she couldn't manage to refuse to apologize and just go straight to filing the lawsuit?
Christianity, unlike Islam, does not seek to subjugate any and every person under its system of rules and regulations while severely punishing those who refuse to submit.
There is a HUGE difference, and to equivocate the two is to deny reality.
I agree, she should have refused and THEN sued them for withholding her diploma
God bless her for speaking the truth!
You don’t have to apologize if you did nothing wrong.
“Sign this confession and you will be permitted to have a trial; we never waste the court’s time on crimnals that refuse to admit their guilt”
And if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.
Your papers, please....
She should have sued over the school keeping her diploma, and never have apologized.
This is what happens when we put real dumbasses in charge of our children. They are too stupid to know about the law, and come up with really “anti-everything good” rules all of the time. Next thing you know, they will outlaw playing tag out in Colorado.....ooops, tey already have! See what I mean?
From the link: “15 could deliver 30-second messages...”
All 15? Sheesh: what’s the meaning of valedictorian? “: the student usually having the highest rank in a graduating class who delivers the valedictory address at the commencement exercises”
Did all 15 valedictori (not sure what the plural is as it is not defined) have the same GPA?
It's a disgrace
My kid’s class has it down to .01s of a point. They know exactly who has what grade point average. The top ten are scrambling for every extra credit point they can.
I think this case is a lot like last years. It appears all the speakers submited a text that I assume was approved. The bit that got her in trouble was added after that.
She should not have said this, this is a group celebration and not the appropriate venue. If she had said ‘I’d like to thank my savior, Jesus Christ, for helping me to achieve my valedictorian achievement’, that would have been fine in my book. She proselytized in an event that was not appropriate to do so.
Hopefully, she will learn the old saying: There is a time and place for everything . . .
This is one of the few times when things are so INCREDIBLY clear with every legal precedent that it is insane this school district did not have its lawyer advising them their actions would be illegal.
The student had every right to mention her beliefs. It was her speech.
Forcing her to apologize is an extreme and UNDISPUTABLE violation of her rights.
The school is going to pay through the nose.
Yep. She should not have apologised period.
More of these lawsuits need to be brought against the government entities that block our rights.
Many people now days falsely believe that the right of free speech and freedom of religion does not apply if you are on publicly funded property.
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