Friday, May 28, 2010
Powah Taken Back By The People
it ain’t gonna be so easy, Progs...
In September, Greenwood High School [Indiana] gave its senior class a ballot, asking them if they wanted to include prayer at graduation. Most students were in favor, but not all.
“I saw that as the school asking the students whether or not we wanted to violate the U.S. Constitution,” said Eric Workman, the school’s valedictorian. “I’m a Christian, but I also believe the law is the law.”
With the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, Workman sued the school and won.
Yes. They’re hi-skool kidz:
"Dealing with my peers, it was difficult, but it showed their true character,” Workman said.
Workman has heard rumors that there will be protests when he addresses his peers at commencement on Friday.
“Someone is going to sneeze, and everyone says, ‘God bless you,’ in order to get back at Eric Workman,” said Nick Rice, a junior at the school. ...
Workman said that he’s a little concerned about his safety and that no matter what happens, he is going to finish his speech, which will address the controversy.
The school’s response?
In the wake of the suit, school officials said they will not screen speeches by four seniors, which leads some to believe a student will read a prayer as part of their speech.
The crux of the case involves the use of school resources to conduct the vote.
[U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker] Barker rejected the notion that the vote signaled a lack of school control over the prayer, saying the school created the ballot, chose the word “prayer” and gave students only a yes-or-no option on the vote. She repeatedly asked [Greenwood district attorney Judy Woods] to demonstrate how administrators weren’t advocating government-sanctioned prayer.
...[ACLU attorney Ken Falk] rejected Greenwood’s claims that the prayer would be part of a limited public forum and not sponsored by the school.
“This isn’t private speech—it’s government speech,” he said.
erm… Regardless of the use of school supplies to create the poll, deeming what students say at a graduation to be “gubbmint speech” seems kinda creepy. ...or creeping.
Just Me™?
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