Posted on 06/27/2002 6:05:42 PM PDT by chance33_98
Former Fallbrook student 'glad' over pledge ruling JAMIE FRANCISCO Staff Writer FALLBROOK ---- MaryKait Durkee, who sued the Fallbrook Union High School District four years ago for requiring students to recite the pledge of allegiance, said Wednesday that she is pleased a federal court has declared the pledge unconstitutional.
Durkee, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit against the district in 1998 when she was a sophomore at Fallbrook High. The suit, which was eventually settled for $5,500 and an agreement that she would not have to recite the pledge, sparked a controversy that was discussed on radio talk shows nationwide.
Now a junior at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Durkee, 20, said Wednesday that she was surprised at the ruling and pleased that the court agreed with her assertion that the phrase "under God" rendered the pledge unconstitutional.
"I'm glad," Durkee said in a telephone interview from her home in Northern California. "I didn't agree with coercion in the classroom. I felt it was personal. I thought it was the parents' and the family's obligation, not the government."
The former Fallbrook High honors student first refused to recite the pledge during a world history class on April 1, 1998, saying that she no longer believed in God. The California Education Code does not require students to recite the pledge, but it does require students to demonstrate what it terms "respect" for the flag.
When she took her stand at Fallbrook High, Durkee's fellow students circulated a petition against her. Seniors in the class of 1998 planned to wave American flags to showcase their patriotism during their graduation ceremony to protest against her suit, but were forbidden by school officials.
At Humboldt, most people who have learned about her court battle have been accepting of her beliefs, although some of her religious friends disagree with her stance, she said.
Despite the reaction from her peers in 1998, Durkee said she stands behind her actions then and is pleased that the issue is back in the national spotlight.
"It was just not really in my character to want to go with the crowd just to not make waves," Durkee said. "I didn't make waves on purpose, but I stood up for what I believed in."
Fallbrook's Ann Durkee, MaryKait's mother, said Wednesday that she, too, was pleased with the ruling and that she hopes it makes a difference in the lives of people who have been afraid to speak out against the pledge.
MaryKait Durkee said she still fundamentally disagrees with certain U.S. government policies, but her current view of the government is less cynical than it was when she filed the lawsuit. The cash settlement from the lawsuit was used to pay her attorney's fees.
"I'm still an atheist," Durkee said. "I have a bit more faith in the government. I'm a bit more optimistic than I was back then."
If she was REQUIRED to recite the Pledge, then I agree, she had a valid suit.
But now, she's saying she's glad that others can be forced NOT to be able to say it.
That's hypocritical in the extreme.
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