Beaver Area graduate alleges First Amendment violation | Education … – Timesonline.com

BEAVER -- When Beaver Area School District administrators instructed a student to remove elements of Christian prayer from her high school commencement address, they were just trying to comply with federal law.

But the student and her family didnt see it that way.

Graduating senior Moriah Bridges had structured her graduation remarks as a prayer, intended to mesh well wishes for her classmates with her Christian faith.

Per district policy, Beavers high school principal and superintendent both reviewed Bridges remarks days before the ceremony. They asked the senior to revise her speech after the districts solicitor advised that allowing a student to lead prayer during commencement violated the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause, which forbids the government from promoting a specific religion.

Bridges alleges the school district violated her First Amendment rights and has enlisted First Liberty Institute, a Texas-based religious freedom advocacy group, to urge the district to reconsider its stance.

The controversy has generated national attention. As of Wednesday afternoon, the story had been blasted across both localtelevisionoutlets and Fox News.

Bridges and her mother contacted First Liberty Institute after the ceremony to ask about their rights and because they were scared and worried about recurring situations during subsequent graduation ceremonies, First Liberty attorney Jeremy Dys said.

Dys, who disagrees with the school districts interpretation of the law, sent the district a letter on June 13 asserting that Bridges religious remarks do not violate the Establishment Clause because they represent her own private speech, and not the districts views.

The letter claims the district committed viewpoint discrimination and requests that the district admit wrongdoing and meet with First Liberty attorneys to establish a policy that will prevent students religious freedom from being violated again.

The organization had not received any response as of Wednesday afternoon, Dys said.

Superintendent Carrie Rowe defended the decision in a press release posted on the districts website.

Beavers solicitor counseled Rowe that federal law prohibits student-led prayer during graduation ceremonies, according to the release. The solicitor backed her reasoning with a 2000 Supreme Court ruling involving Sante Fe Independent School District, which upheld that "school officials may not permit a teacher, faculty member, member of the clergy, or student to deliver any sort of prayer, invocation, or benediction at public school-sponsored events, including graduations."

Students who speak at graduation, including the valedictorian and class president, know that the District will review their remarks in advance, and the District assumes responsibility for the content, according to Rowes release. In Moriahs case, the District could not approve a speech written as a prayer, but did approve a second version that she submitted.

Although I can understand why this restriction might upset members of the community, I cannot choose which laws to follow, Rowes release said.

In situations like these, whether a student offering prayer during a graduation address violates the Constitution hinges on whether the school district reviews the speech, said Charles Haynes, vice president of the Newseum Institute. Haynes also serves as founding director of the Religious Freedom Center and is a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center.

Generally, a school district is not considered responsible for a students graduation remarks as long as the student crafts her thoughts on her own without any district input or oversight.

When the school reviews the address, the responsibility shifts, Haynes said. If school officials approved the religious speech in the students graduation remarks, the school then becomes responsible for promoting religious speech and violating the First Amendment, he said.

Current laws forbid public schools from allowing prayer at graduation -- student-led or otherwise, Haynes said. Even if the school includes a disclaimer specifying that the students views are her own, the school can still be considered legally responsible for speech it has reviewed.

Theres no ambiguity in the law, he said.

If public school officials violate the First Amendment, they make the district vulnerable to lawsuits, Haynes said. Beyond potentially expensive litigation, the overarching concern is the districts fundamental responsibility to protect the freedom of conscience for its students, he said.

That is the bigger concern. The school is there to protect freedom of conscience and religious liberty for everybody, Haynes said, whether the student is Christian, a nonbeliever, Jewish or Muslim.

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