Home » Take Action » Become a Student Activist » Case of the Month Archives » October 2000
Overview of the Students' Free Speech Rights Complaint
Do Students Have to Say the Pledge of Allegiance?
A student who recently transferred from out of state to a high school here in Florida was welcomed by having to serve detention and a possible school suspension. Why? The student had refused to stand while the pledge of allegiance was recited in school.
The student, who is attending school in the Okeechobee School District, contacted the ACLU to inquire whether this was a violation of a constitutional right. Randall Marshall, the Legal Director of the ACLU of Florida then contacted the school district to discuss the legal issues pertaining to this case, which are also discussed below.
On September 28, the Assistant Superintendent of the Okeechobee School District wrote the ACLU explaining that the high school will not take further disciplinary action against students for refusing to stand during the pledge of allegiance and that any record of disciplinary action will be removed from this particular student's record.
