School Threatens to Ruin Valedictorian’s Naval Academy Appt.

radio.foxnews.com ^ | June 13, 2013 | Todd Starnes

[ilovesarah2012]

A Texas high school principal threatened to sabotage a valedictorian’s appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy after the student delivered a speech that referenced God and the U.S. Constitution, Fox News has learned.

Hiram Sasser, director of litigation with the Liberty Institute, said Joshua High School principal Mick Cochran threatened to write a letter to the U.S. Naval Academy disparaging the character of Remington Reimer. “It was intimidating having my high school principal threaten my future because I wanted to stand up for the Constitution and acknowledge my faith and not simply read a government approved speech, the teenager said. Sasser is now representing the teenager and is calling for the Joshua Independent School District to issue a public statement exonerating him of any wrongdoing. He said the speech was edited and reviewed by four different school officials – including an officer in the JROTC. Sasser said the censorship violated federal and state laws.

[frog in a pot]

I pray you never show up on a jury.

Especially if you are trying to defend your breach of a contract through which you received value.

[Bshaw]

I agree, he received an email and a call from me! Mick Cock-ran.

What a punk! Were that my kid, we’d be having a conversation face to face.

[VMI70]

“Cuts down on the rat/narc element quite a bit.”

I am not exactly clear on what you mean by “rat/narc”, but I assume that the “rat” part means informing the honor court of an honor violation by a fellow cadet/midshipman.
At VMI, the Honor Code is enforced strictly by the corps. There is an observer from the administration, but he has nothing to do with the process. As a 3rd generation VMI cadet, it was my experience that the system worked flawlessly. In reality, a vast majority of the cases were of the cut and dried variety, where the violator was caught red handed.

I note that many people equate “breaking the rules” as an honor violation. At VMI, breaking the rules was a time honored tradition. However, if caught and lying about it, the penalty is harsh.

If by “rat/narc”, you infer that someone was falsely accused, for whatever reason, then the accuser himself would be guilty of an honor violation, to wit: making a false official statement.

Paterfamilias’s explanation in #71, about the skipper being the “judge, jury & executioner” is an interesting concept that I had not considered. It seems to make sense under those circumstances.

[Conserev1]

In the future I can see maybe 6 speeches in a glass case and the student is offered to select 1 of the six.
On the other side of this coin if I had a student at that school and Diciplinary action was taken I would CSI that sucker to see if any other vendetta was issued against my Kid.
This guy seems like the type that will not stop at punishment deserved and time served.

[Conserev1]

Correct me if I am wrong on this but, I know West Point requires a Congressman or Senator from your state to recomend you for the appointment.
I’m sure this would override any smug principle seeking vengence.

[JCBreckenridge]

What contract? The kid wasn’t getting paid to do the speech.

I would argue that the kid did his job marvellously well. Everyone who was there appreciated and enjoyed the speech.

Is it not the point of the speech to deliver something that is appreciated and memorable? The kid did this in spades.

I’m supposed to regard someone who performed his duties in an excellent fashion as the one in the wrong here? Or the bully who is smearing the kid’s name and attacking him?

[ShasheMac]

It absolutely is and I was just having a little fun.

[wfu_deacons]

The Naval Academy honor code is/was “A Midshipman does not not lie, cheat, or steal.” The VMI, West Point, and Air Force phrase “or tolerate those that do” was not explicit in the honor code. However, the Honor System at the Naval Academy required Midshipmen to report or counsel persons thought to have committed honor offenses or potential honor offenses. I believe the intent was to give Mids some discretion in gray areas.

The Honor Concept BS was developed in the 90s (I think) after the Naval Academy suffered a rash of cheating scandals. The politically correct thinkers rationalized the problem by blaming society-— the Naval Academy could not be expected to quickly transform flawed incomers from a society where the concept of honor had largerly been lost. Hence, the “Honor Concept” was developed to “teach honor” and the implementation of the honor system has suffered from uneven application.

[Smokey337]

The service is also about not following unlawful orders. Remember the My Lai Massacre? It would seem as though the school did not follow Texas Law or JISD Policy. They not only cut off his mic but then proceeded to threaten him for exposing the fact that they had violated both the law and JISD policy. The threat was engendered to do great financial harm to both the student and his family. An education at the USNA is expensive. This would have been punishment to the tune of 150-200,000 dollars. Most felonies do not carry such a punishment. BTW the student did not lie. He did not do what he had agreed to do but to then say, in writing that his character was bad knowing full well it would cause him great harm, particularly when the school itself had violated both law and policy could very well cost the JISD a lot more than embarrassment!

[PeteB570]

That is a stretch.

Jeeezzz

[frog in a pot]

Oh boy...damn...I was proceeding solely on the basis of the prior news report. Unfamiliar with Texas school law and did not contemplate such a wholesale (and public) violation by a principal...and then..."the rest of the story".

If in this subsequent article the kid's attorney is correct:
...the school district violated state and federal laws by censoring Reimer’s speech...the law, along with local school policy, requires the school to distance itself from the valedictorian’s speech. That means not editing or drafting the speech.

Sounds persuasive.

Won't waste time your time with arguing there was a contract because if the attorney is correct, any such contract is uneforceable. However, in the slight chance the attorney is indeed blowing smoke, I think the USNA will give it a look.

No matter what the outcome is, as far as the school principal tattle-telling to the USNA, well, that seems consistent with what one might sense from the photo posted upthread.

Smart money would say, if the kid's attorney is correct, the principal is history, or worse, based on the edit and then the threat of contacting the academy (perhaps already slander and potentially defamation).

Thank you for the slap upside my heyd.

[PrairieLady2]

Ummm, your statement about having to play by their agenda...

That school exists in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and they ARE required to play by the LEGAL agenda! What the school did was ignore the law and institute illegal ‘’laws’’ that the student is NOT bound by law to follow.

Just because you are forced at a young age, to walk into a public school, does NOT mean you park your civil rights at the door at their demand.

The young man read the ‘approved’ speech in its entirety according to the article, but went on to speak his own heart.

The school was illegally behaving in censoring his speech in the first place. He had the legal right to speak what HE wanted to speak, and he knew that. And he retained his rights in the process. Good for him!

[ilovesarah2012]

If the order is unconstitutional, I hope he refuses.

[Amagi]

Not long ago this vile bully effort to sabotage this patriotic American youth's future education opportunity would have been laughable in its obvious futility.
However, recent stories indicate that the military is becoming increasingly Obamatized and corrupted against traditional values and the American people.