What a little punk.
We have an ever increasing group of little whiners in this country. No surprise the ACLU was all over this one.
Court OKs student's decision to sit during pledgeby Nirvi Shah and Kathleen McGrory / McClatchy Newspapers
Friday July 25, 2008, 3:03 PM
MIAMI -- A former Palm Beach County high school student's desire not to stand during the pledge of allegiance was supported by a federal appeals court this week -- though the court wouldn't go as far as to say that means every student in Florida is exempt from standing during the school-day ritual.
But the ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta could trigger more lawsuits if other students are forced to stand for the pledge or punished if they do not, said Randall Marshall, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented Cameron Frazier.
"What's different about Cameron Frazier than any other student in the state of Florida?" Marshall said.
Frazier was a junior at Boynton Beach High in 2005 when he refused to stand during the pledge and spent the rest of the day in the office after his teacher berated him for his disrespect, according to the original lawsuit.
Frazier did not have his parents' permission to abstain, but the teenager said he had not stood for the pledge since the sixth grade.
The appeals court upheld another Florida law that requires kids to get permission from their parents before abstaining from the pledge, reversing a lower court's ruling on that matter.
In a prepared statement, Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith said the state Department of Education was "pleased" that the court "recognized the balance between the exercise of free speech and parents' right to direct and oversee their child's education and civic values."
The department and the state Board of Education, along with Frazier's teacher, other school employees and the Palm Beach County school district, were the defendants in the original case. Frazier settled with the district in 2006 but pursued his case against the state.
In 2006, a federal judge ruled that the state law requiring civilians to stand during the pledge, and another requiring students to get written parental permission to avoid participating, were unconstitutional. The state appealed.
In his statement, Smith wrote that the state Board of Education and Department of Education were seeking to defend "the constitutionality of the statute."
South Florida teachers who learned of the ruling Thursday had mixed reactions.
Ron Beasley, a teacher at W.R. Thomas Middle School near Tamiami and a retired Army Airborne Ranger, said he had no problems with his students sitting during the pledge, as long as they discussed it with him first.
"If a kid has told me that he or she doesn't believe in acknowledging the flag or it's a religious issue, I don't push it," he said. "But for the other kids who have not expressed some specific objection, it is a matter of respect and patriotism. They should be there for the pledge."
The pledge of allegiance must be recited once a day at public schools, according to a 1942 state law.
When the school district settled with Frazier, it also chose to follow federal law, which does not require standing during the pledge or written parental permission to avoid it.
Broward school district spokesman Keith Bromery said students do need to bring in a note from their parents to be exempt from participating in the pledge.
"If somebody does not want to do it, it's their right to opt out," Bromery said. "They cannot disrupt the procedure."
The Miami-Dade district does not require a note from parents, said Martha Montaner, administrative director for school operations.
"The students who choose not to participate, either because of a deep personal conviction or religious reasons, can stay silent or sit down until the activity is over," Montaner said. "We give the students the liberty to choose."
Students are not required to stand, she said.
Montaner could not say whether the district's policy would change in light of the ruling.
Frazier, who has not commented publicly about his suit, said he did not want to stand for the pledge "because of his personal political beliefs and convictions," the original lawsuit states.
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2008/07/court_oks_students_decision_to.html
