Posted on 06/19/2006 2:02:05 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
A local high school graduation ended with roars of protest after school officials turned the microphone off right in the middle of one of the valedictorian's speeches. The microphone cut out after the valedictorian at Foothill High made reference to God.
The family says the District's decision isn't fair. Brittney McComb says she's a straight A student, number one in her class, and is headed to Biola University in the fall.
Brittney attributes all of her success to God. Trouble is, she tried to explain that during her speech which the school district said they told her beforehand was a no-no.
"God's love is so great."
This was part of the speech that Brittney McComb says she so wanted to give on graduation night. But because it did have numerous references to God and Jesus Christ, the school district cut off the mic, leaving her practically silent. That's when many people stood up and booed, showing their support.
Now, the day after, McComb says she got nothing but support from her fellow students. "All of my classmates came up to me and were so happy. They told me they loved me and I said God's awesome because I couldn't have done it without him."
McComb says the district reviewed her speech beforehand, just like everyone else. But she says they sent it back with the last half chopped off.
"They said it was offensive, it identifies a particular religion," explains McComb. "I really think it's free speech; we're American, we should be able to handle that."
We asked her father about that.
Rob McMillan: We have freedom of speech, but what about separation of church and state?
Michael McComb: They brought that up, and they say they were going to give us some documentation to prove why she could say that in her speech.
They said the documentation was ambiguous. That was when Brittney said she took it upon herself to go ahead and give her speech as written, no matter what the consequences might be.
The district tells News 3 there are guidelines for what valedictorians can and can't say, but they didn't get back to us on our request for an interview. A district spokesperson told us they were not trying to avoid interviews on this subject and that multiple graduation ceremonies prevented top administrators from giving us an interview.
The school district maintains it was simply following procedure at the Foothill Graduation.
We're told students are required to submit their speeches in writing ahead of time and they're told if they deviate from the script at all, their microphones will be cut off. The district maintains that's exactly what happened in this case.
Isn't that an oxymoron?
Yep, maybe with Roberts and Alito as justices, this mangled interpretation will be struck down.
Not to worry - the ACLU will file suit on her behalf.
/s
I suspect the district would've given the go-ahead to any student who wanted to give credit to Allah.
I am constantly amazed at how timid we are in these confrontations. Separation of Church and State is NOT in the Constitution as most assume. It is a convention that started with Baptists in Connecticut irritated with the state sanctioned Episcopal Church. Jefferson penned this phrase during this disagreement. It later grew in strength as a Protestant strategy to curtain Catholic involvement and it is now a beast of their own creation that has turned on them. The bottom line is that it is not Constitutional and should be challenged at every turn.
As I noted on the related posting, it was lucky that the Commissars of Free Speech were there to protect everyone from this dangerous counterrevolutionary. Uncontrollable theism might have broken out! (/sarcasm off)
Would that be so hard to do?
Wouldn't it avoid any and all criticisms about "state-sponsored religion" ??
The argument that a Valedictorian's speech is somehow endorsed by the school, and is therefore an endorsement by the government, is completely without merit. Were it a principal, a teacher, or a skrewel administrator it would have been different. A student should be free to voice their opinions, even if they close their statement with "Allahu Akbar." Somebody please tell me how you can make the leap from a student's speech to the "establishment of religion" clause in our Constitution.
A school valedictorian is representing the school and as such the school can turn off her microphone.
Or as laura ingraham once said about hollywood performers "shut up and sing"
North Korea is alive and well in the public skrools.
I guess they fear putting a name to a decision will result in them getting FReeped!
Freedom of speech doesn't mean you get a free microphone to use.
Uh, the one religion that believes in God? Oh yeah, that religion.
...Or, to the Gay and Lesbian coalition.
I betcha some atheist busybody would still complain...
When they cut her mike, wouldn't it have been cool if she'd calmly pulled out the bullhorn hidden under her robe and finished her speech?
anyone have a problem with the following
A local high school graduation ended with roars of protest after school officials turned the microphone off right in the middle of one of the valedictorian's speeches. The microphone cut out after the valedictorian at Foothill High made reference to Satan.
The family says the District's decision isn't fair. Brittney McComb says she's a straight A student, number one in her class, and is headed to Saddam Hussein University in the fall.
Brittney attributes all of her success to Satan. Trouble is, she tried to explain that during her speech which the school district said they told her beforehand was a no-no.
"Satan's love is so great."
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