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Townhall...
Chipping Away Again at Bearings of America
By Marybeth Hicks
It’s a minor issue, really, but when you think about it, the decay of a nation happens a little at a time.
Last week, bowing to pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union,
the Sweeny Independent School District in Texas announced that it would
reword its district and high school handbooks so students no longer
would be disciplined for refusing to stand for the recitation of the
Pledge of Allegiance.
Controversy over the policy came to light this month after the
principal and assistant principal reprimanded a number of Sweeny High
School students for refusing to stand for the Pledge. The
administrators said the students’ behavior offended others and that out
of respect for the country and the state of Texas, they should comply
with the rule book.
Like a plurality of states, Texas law mandates that students recite the
Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag each school day. In Texas,
students also swear allegiance to the state flag, which should come as
no surprise. This is Texas we’re talking about.
As is customary, everyone stands.
But not these particular Sweeny students, who decided in March, after
12 years of education in the district and on the brink of their high
school graduation, that their respect for the flags of the United
States and the state of Texas could be demonstrated while staying
seated.
When asked to stand for the Pledge, the students essentially responded with a big, fat, “You can’t make me.”
Enlisting the ACLU to argue their case, two of the students, both
18-year-olds, claimed that the requirement to stand for the Pledge
violated their constitutional rights. In a letter to the school board
declaring “the law is so well settled in this area that teachers and
school administrative officials may be personally liable for violating
students’ rights,” the ACLU of Texas demanded that the district and the
high school immediately bring their policies into compliance with the
Constitution and also that they advise everyone and their uncle of the
change.
On its website, the civil liberties group declared the case a victory
with the headline, “ACLU Of Texas Protects Students’ First Amendment
Rights; Sweeny School Officials Must Change Unconstitutional Policy.”
The school board isn’t exactly conceding defeat. Appearing on the Fox
News Channel, school board President Samuel Brooks said the district
still requires students to stand; however, the rewritten policies no
longer threaten discipline if some refuse to do so.
The two students who sought legal counsel wish to remain anonymous.
Apparently they fear that whole “Don’t mess with Texas” thing may bite
them in the you-know-where.
While their constitutional rights were so vital that they felt
compelled to fight a reasonable school policy, they aren’t so important
that the students will take a public stand, proving, if nothing else,
that at least they’re consistent on the issue of standing. On such
character the future of our nation rests.
Meanwhile, Rome burns.
Fighting for the right to stay seated during a constitutionally
permissible expression of patriotism seems like a cause without a
purpose, but the U.S. Supreme Court long ago decided that it’s
un-American to require Americans to love America. (Just try to stay
seated when a federal judge enters a courtroom and see what happens.)
Once again, though, we’re confronted with a community’s loss of its
right to create and enforce certain standards that reflect the
sensibilities of the people who live there, even within the confines of
its public schools.
So, congrats, ACLU, on another victory for constitutionally protected
free speech and on helping to further erode our American character. But
don’t be surprised if the kids look back someday and wish you hadn’t
been quite so helpful.
Read it at Townhall
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