On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Attorneys Present Oral Arguments in Defense of High School Valedictorian Censored, Silenced for Referencing Christ
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute will present oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on March 10, 2009, on behalf of a high school senior whose microphone was turned off after she began speaking about the importance of religion in her life during her valedictory address.
Brittany McComb, the 2006 valedictorian at Foothill High School, was silenced when she began reading parts of her speech that contained references to the Bible, God and her faith in Jesus Christ during her commencement speech. With the assistance of The Rutherford Institute, McComb filed a First Amendment lawsuit against school officials in July 2006.
On June 18, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada rejected the Clark County School District's second attempt to have the case dismissed, affirming the court's December 2006 ruling that the lawsuit raises substantial claims of infringement of McComb's right of free speech. School officials subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeals, requesting that the case be dismissed.
"This is a very important free speech case that will affect the rights of religious persons across America," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "If government officials can extinguish speech by turning off microphones at public assemblies, then none of us will have any rights."
In the spring of 2006, Brittany McComb was one of three valedictorians chosen based on their grade-point averages to give a speech at Foothill High School's annual commencement ceremony. Each valedictorian was provided with "suggestions" for crafting their speeches; however, school officials neither encouraged nor forbade the students to include or exclude religious content from their speeches. In her speech, Brittany reflected on past experiences and lessons learned at Foothill and wrote about the emptiness she experienced from accomplishments, achievements, and failures in her early high school years. She then mentioned the fulfillment and satisfaction she later came to experience in something greater than herself, namely, in God's love, and Christ.
Upon receiving a copy of Brittany's draft speech, school administrators proceeded to censor her speech, deleting all three Bible references, several references to "the Lord" and the only mention of the word "Christ." Believing that the district's censorship of her speech amounted to a violation of her right to free speech, on June 15, 2006, Brittany attempted to deliver the original version of her speech in which she talked about the role that her Christian beliefs played in her success. The moment Brittany began to speak the words, school officials cut off her microphone, silencing her in front of 400 of her peers. Despite extensive jeers from the audience over the school officials' actions, McComb was not permitted to finish her valedictory speech.
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