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Middle School Principal Bars Student from Participating in National Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity

ADF attorneys file suit on student’s behalf

By Cassidy Bugos

ALBANY, New York, January 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A 13-year-old Gowana Middle School eighth-grader prohibited from expressing his prolife views during the National Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity now has a group of attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filing suit on his behalf.

The lawsuit was filed January 3 in U.S. District Court against Gowana Middle School principal Jill Bush and Shenendehowa Central School District officials.

“Students do not abandon their free speech rights when they set foot on campus,” said ADF legal counsel Matt Bowman. “The school’s egregious actions in denying this student’s free speech rights, while allowing students to speak on other issues, cannot be allowed to continue.”

The boy, identified in court documents as M.G., like 1,400 other middle and high school students nationwide was participating in the 3rd annual Students’ Day of Silent Solidarity, organized by the Stand True ministry (http://www.standtrue.com).

The day of the event, October 24, the boy and his friends arrived at school wearing pro-life T-shirts. Before school and during first period they handed out fliers and spoke with other students about their beliefs.

The boy wore a piece of red tape over his mouth; the word ‘LIFE’ was printed on it, to symbolize the aborted babies who will never have a voice. He had previously obtained permission from his teachers to wear the tape and observe silence all day in solidarity with aborted children.

When school principal Jill Bush learned of the students’ demonstration, however, she allegedly told them to turn their T-shirts inside out and throw their tape and fliers into the trash. 

She also allegedly made an announcement over the school intercom directing any student who received a flier to hand it over to school officials.

Court documents say that when one student objected that the First Amendment protected their right to express their personal views, provided they are not disruptive, Bush replied, “Students shouldn’t be thinking about issues like that at your age.”

‘M.G.’ was forced to throw away his tape; however, he did obtain permission to remain silent all day provided he did not explain to anyone why. He obeyed to avoid further public discipline.

The boy’s mother called the Shendendehowa Central School District office more than a week in advance to clear her son’s plans with School Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson. She spoke with a representative and left her name and phone number, but was never notified that her son’s plans would interfere with any school or district policy.

Court papers note that Gowana Middle School students have previously been permitted to express their views freely on other controversial social issues.

“The First Amendment does not permit school officials to ‘pick and choose’ which speech is allowable and which is not,” said ADF-allied attorney Tom Marcelle of Albany, N.Y., who is co-counsel in the case. “If 13-year-olds are old enough to participate in sexual education courses, they are certainly old enough to talk about such issues as abortion.”

In recent months attorneys with the Alliance Defend Fund have handled similar cases in Virginia and Washington.

In this case the attorneys say they seek a jury trial and permission for the boy to engage in another silent protest and leaflet campaign on January 22—the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal in the U.S.

To respectfully contact:

Gowana Middle School officials:
Gowana Middle School
970 Rt. 146
Clifton Park, NY 12065
(518) 881-0460

Shenendehowa Central School District officials:
Attn: Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson
5 Chelsea Place
Clifton Park, NY 12065
(518) 881-0600

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