Posted on 04/17/2004 4:14:38 PM PDT by Kuksool
A Lee County middle-schooler fought her school district this week for the right to hand out anti-abortion literature on school grounds and lost, but she said Friday she's not backing down.
Michelle Heinkel, an eighth-grader at Cypress Lake Middle School, had one last chance Friday morning to garner permission to distribute the literature Friday on the national Day of Remembrance." The day observes pregnancies terminated through abortion and the women who underwent the procedure.
Michelle's attorney, Joel Oster, asked U.S. District Judge John E. Steele on Friday to reconsider his Wednesday ruling barring Heinkel from distributing the pamphlets, produced by Freedom to Learn, a Florida anti-abortion group.
Steele rejected the emergency request seeking to bar the Lee County School District from prohibiting the literature distribution. Michelle wanted to hand pamphlets to classmates at the south Fort Myers school, instead of breaking her vow of silence in order to explain the anti-abortion T-shirt she wore to school. The silence signified a never-born child's voice silenced by abortion.
"I think I would have been able to explain more of my view on this (issue)," she said after school. "I think I would have made a bigger impact, but I don't think I would have changed any minds."
Michelle plans to continue the suit because she feels her First Amendment rights have been violated. She wants to take her case to trial.
Michelle filed a federal lawsuit March 26 against the School District claiming her First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and to freely exercise her religion were violated last year when Superintendent James Browder rejected a request to allow students to pass out the pamphlets, one of which contained a black-and-white drawing depicting a partial-birth abortion.
Steele ruled Wednesday said that Michelle could not pass out anti-abortion literature at school in part because she had not asked for permission herself. Freedom to Learn leaders made the requests last year and this year in January before the girl filed suit.
Michelle, 14, lodged a personal request with Browder on Wednesday, hoping to eliminate one of Steele's criterion for rejection. Browder denied her request Thursday.
Browder stated in his rejection letter that the materials would create a substantial disruption to the school environment, and they did not contain a disclaimer saying the district didn't endorse or sponsor those views.
Rosalind Matosatos, South Florida staff lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said children do have the right to distribute literature in school. However, the common test used in school districts and courtrooms is whether the literature will cause a disruption in school.
"We really doubt this would cause a disruption," she said. "That's pretty much the excuse that school officials use."
Messages were left Friday for Browder and Cypress Lake Middle School Principal Jeananne Folaros, but they were unavailable for comment.
"Please be informed that I do not consider the filing of a lawsuit against the School District to be a request ...," Browder wrote. "When you choose to file a lawsuit, you are no longer making a request of the superintendent, but rather challenging the authority of the superintendent and requesting the court to intervene in the operation of the School District."
In court Monday, School District attorney Thomas Gonzalez said that this year's request may have had a different outcome if Michelle sought permission herself before filing suit.
Oster filed an amended federal complaint Friday morning, adding Riverdale High School senior Nate Cordray to the suit after Steele and district attorneys said the pamphlets were too graphic for middle-school-age children to view.
Steele said nothing in the new lawsuit documents convinced him that Heinkel deserved the emergency approval to pass out the materials.
"The motion...is untimely, being filed on the morning of the day on which the distribution is desired," he said.
Another School District attorney, Keith Martin, said Steele shot down the request because Michelle and Cordray couldn't prove there was an extreme need to hand out the pamphlets.
"It affirms the appropriateness of the decision," Martin said of the judge's ruling Friday. "They don't completely lose their rights when they walk in the schoolhouse doors, but schools can place limits on that speech so it doesn't disrupt (class). If they're disturbed from going to their next class by getting the material, it causes a disruption."
Freedom to Learn members were told by Browder and School District attorneys that a district policy prohibits literature from being passed out in school.
Michelle and her 13-year-old brother, Benjamin, wore T-shirts marking the "Day of Remembrance." They spoke to classmates throughout the day about their cause and stance on abortion.
Debra Heinkel, the children's mother, said Benjamin's first-period teacher told him he would be serving a lunchtime detention on Monday because his shirt violated Cypress Lake Middle's dress code policy. The policy states children cannot wear T-shirts, Debra Heinkel said. The shirt, if short-sleeved, must have a collar and any symbols must be no larger than the size of a quarter. He was wearing such a shirt under the T-shirt Friday.
"Benjamin was in tears and upset," Debra Heinkel said. "I was fit to be tied."
She said district staff sent a memo to all schools informing them that students must adhere to individual school dress codes. After the Heinkels' attorneys sent letters to the district reminding administrators that Steele and School District attorneys in court Monday said the shirts were allowed, Benjamin's detention was withdrawn, Debra Heinkel said.
Teachers were respectful of Michelle's shirt and vow of silence regarding it, she said, and classmates questioned why she wore the shirt and was fighting the district's rules, she said. A substitute teacher announced that she was on the pro-choice side of the debate, and didn't want to discuss the issue with Michelle, the girl said.
"This is actually a good experience for me," Michelle. "I'm actually standing up for what I believe in. As a Christian, I'm supposed to stand up for what I believe in."
She said the experience has prompted her to consider becoming a lawyer when she grows up.
Debra Heinkel, the children's mother, said Benjamin's first-period teacher told him he would be serving a lunchtime detention on Monday because his shirt violated Cypress Lake Middle's dress code policy. The policy states children cannot wear T-shirts, Debra Heinkel said.
Should've printed it on a burqua. Really give 'em fits.
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Ten years after graduating from high school I ran for school committee in my home town. This was back in 1994. I got to go back and visit the elementary schools on "candidates night." In the first gym that I entered I noticed an "earth flag" hanging from the ceiling. No U.S. flag was to be found. It was truly frightening. I felt like I had stepped into a Frank Peretti novel.
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