Citizens Project

Religious freedom victory: Court rejects public school religious speech

Posted by Barb Van Hoy

ANOTHER victory for religious freedom!

“The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a student who complained that high school officials violated her constitutional rights when they turned off her microphone during her religion-tinged graduation speech.”

This ruling makes a very important distinction about how the Constitution protects religious freedom for ALL public school students. When they are a captive audience at an official school function such as graduation, it is not OK to preach to them. An Appeals Court deemed her speech to be “proselytizing.” Everyone, including this student, is free to hold their own beliefs and to preach to others, but not by co-opting a public school function. No one has that right. Taxpayers are funding the school and the graduation, so it is not appropriate or fair to turn it into a church service.  This would apply equally to a student attempting to give an Islamic, Buddhist or Atheist sermon at a public school event.

Not surprisingly, the Religious Right is calling this censorship and discrimination.