On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Urges U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Free Speech Case of High School Valedictorian Censored, Silenced for Referencing Christ
WASHINGTON, DC -- Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have asked the United States Supreme Court to hear the case of a high school valedictorian whose microphone was turned off by school officials after she began speaking about the part her religious beliefs played in her success in life. Institute attorneys charge that school officials violated Brittany McComb's free speech rights when they cut off the microphone in the middle of her valedictory address. They also argue that school officials engaged in viewpoint discrimination by censoring McComb because of her Christian beliefs while allowing other student speakers to offer remarks with religious content.
A copy of the brief is available here.
"Brittany McComb's case could be vital to the survival of freedom in America's public schools," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "At present, our public schools are on freedom lockdown. I sincerely hope the Supreme Court will take a first step with Brittany's case and reverse this horrible trend."
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 school 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. Despite extensive jeers from the audience over the school officials' actions, McComb was not permitted to finish her valedictory speech. With the assistance of The Rutherford Institute, Brittany McComb filed a First Amendment lawsuit against Foothill High School officials in July 2006.
In June 2007, the U.S. District Court for Nevada rejected the school district's second attempt to have the case dismissed and affirmed that the lawsuit raises substantial claims of infringement of McComb's right of free speech. School officials subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeals, which dismissed the case, holding that McComb had no right to give her speech, which it deemed to be "proselytizing."
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