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Friday July 14, 2006
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High-School Valedictorian Sues School for Muting Speech Thanking Jesus
By Peter J. Smith
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, July 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Rutherford
Institute, a conservative legal group, has agreed to represent a Nevada
valedictorian in a lawsuit against her school for violating her right
to freedom of speech and religious expression.
Brittany McComb, the 18 year old valedictorian graduate of Foothill
High School was publicly censored by school officials during her June
15th commencement address.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Nevada, and names the
principal, the assistant principal, and the school employee who turned
off the sound system on McComb as defendants.
The Rutherford Institute released a video of McComb’s commencement
address, held at The Orleans hotel-casino in Las Vegas, where 400
graduates and their families were gathered for the Foothills High
School Graduation. School officials had warned McComb against
veering away from the school-censored text that expunged any mention
of Jesus or the Bible. They made good on a threat to cut her off when a
school employee pulled the plug on the microphone in the middle of
McComb’s speech to her graduating class.
The video shows McComb speaking, “God’s love is so great that He gave
His only Son up,” whereupon the sound system was cut off leaving her to
continue without amplification. She continued, “… to an excruciating
death on a cross so his blood would cover all our shortcomings and
provide for us a way to heaven in accepting this grace.” The audience
became outraged at the school’s censorship, booing, and
chanting “Let her speak!”
“This is yet another example of a politically correct culture silencing
Christians in order to not offend those of other beliefs," said John W.
Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Brittany McComb
worked hard to earn the right to address her classmates as
valedictorian and she has a constitutional right—like any other
student—to freely speak about the factors that contributed to her
success, whether they be a supportive family, friends or her faith in
Jesus Christ."
School officials defended their actions by saying they warned McComb
not to deviate from the approved text. The Clark County School District
legal counsel Bill Hoffman said the speech amounted to proselytizing,
and the school had to keep in line with 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
rulings that mandated school districts to censor speeches for
proselytizing. The 9th Circuit is also the same court that ruled in
favor of an atheist who argued that the Pledge was unconstitutional for
the reference “of one nation, under God”, but which also found that
California world history curricula involving students repeating Islamic
prayers, custom, and creed did not involve an establishment of religion.
Allen Lichtenstein, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of
Nevada, defended the schools actions, saying that the ACLU had sued in
the past to make sure schools did not permit proselytizing at school
events.
Brittany McComb defended her right to her freedom of religious
expression and freedom of speech. “In my heart I couldn’t say the
edited version because it wasn’t what I wanted to say,” McComb said in
an interview with the Associated Press. “I wanted to say why I was
successful, and what inspired me to keep going and what motivated me.
It involved Jesus Christ for me, period.”
“God’s the biggest part of my life,” McComb previously stated. “Just
like the other valedictorians thank their parents, I wanted to thank my
Lord and Saviour.”
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