{"id":5337,"date":"2004-04-05T10:50:40","date_gmt":"2004-04-05T17:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/04\/05\/more-pledgy-brouhaha.html"},"modified":"2004-04-05T10:50:40","modified_gmt":"2004-04-05T17:50:40","slug":"more_pledgy_bro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/04\/05\/more_pledgy_bro.html","title":{"rendered":"More pledgy brouhaha"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow. On first blush, this one’s outrageous, then it gets a bit tricky, then, maybe, it will end by being outrageous at the end.<\/p>\n

The students in a high school broadcasting class in Washington are responsible for reciting the Pledge of Allegience over the PA, while the monitors in various rooms show the pledge text and a fluttering American flag in the background.<\/p>\n

(Doesn’t that seem a little goofy? I mean, given the controversy, making the pledge be part of a class assignment, removing it from the venue of “voluntary,” seems unwise. In fact, since the Supremes have said that nobody can be compelled to say the Pledge, it seems illegal.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, one of the students decided that the “under God” bit was wrong, so he recited the pledge without it, and altered the text on the screen to omit the offending words. And now faces punishment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hess, an avowed atheist since sixth grade, thinks he’s forced to listen to a religious statement when he hears the pledge. Last week, his world current events class debated Newdow’s case. After one student said, “Christians are forcing us to listen to this,” Hess vowed that he could make students not listen to the words. The phrase “under God” was added to the pledge by congressional vote in 1954, during the Cold War.
\n“I took it out to prove we don’t have to hear it,” Hess said.
\nOn Wednesday, school officials told Hess he would be permitted only to read books during his broadcasting class. Hess, 18, plans a career in broadcasting and wants to finish his assignments. “I want my privileges back,” he said. “It’s not right to take them away.”
\n[…] Administrators said Hess’ actions put the school out of sync with state law, though lawyers note that there is no criminal or civil penalty for not saying the pledge. State law allows students to remain silent during the pledge.
\nThe San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that “under God” is unconstitutional. But that ruling is on hold while the the U.S. Supreme Court considers the matter.
\n“Our interpretation as a school district is that the law says we say the pledge,” said Greg Eisnaugle, Spanaway Lake principal. “‘Under God’ is still in it. If the court says it comes out, that’s what we’ll do.”<\/p>\n

On the one hand, it sounds like oppression of free speech and imposition of religious duties. But, then, there’s this:<\/p>\n

The student, Kenny Hess, removed the words “under God” from the pledge, which is shown with an American flag background on classroom TV throughout the school. Hess also declined to recite the phrase and, instead read, “one nation … indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
\nSchool officials said they’ve punished Hess for misusing school equipment to deliver a personal message.
\n[…] School officials said Hess should have chosen to write an article for the school paper or produce an opinion piece for the school newscast.<\/p>\n

Was that an option? If Hess wanted to dissent from the offending phrase, was there a way he could do that without losing class credit or having his grade affected?<\/p>\n

See, the problem here isn’t so much that Hess dissents from the Pledge as currently constituted, but that he altered it, in text and speech, during an assignment. What he was supposed to say on the school-owned equipment during a school-organized period, wasn’t what he actually said. <\/p>\n

If Hess had, for example, decided to leave out other words, or change some around, or change the picture on the monitor to a picture of Kurt Cobain, or add in his own editorial comment (“with liberty and justice for all, except for the prisoners down in Gitmo, locked away by the fascist Bush Administration!”), nobody would argue that he had a free speech right to express his opinion — but it would be more clearly (if still analogously) an act that the school could censure for not being what was assigned. <\/p>\n

Again, this isn’t the Free Speech moment, or a political rally. It’s a school assignment, on school equipment, being piped around to classrooms. That the school believes it has a statutory requirement to do this adds to the case, even if there’s some question as to the accuracy of taht interpretation.<\/p>\n

If<\/i> Hess had the opportunity to decline the assignment without adversely affecting his grade, then his actions were improper. If there were no such opportunity, then the assignment would, indeed, be illegal (though certainly broadcast students should learn that broadcasters sometimes have to cover material in a way that may not match their personal convictions).<\/p>\n

The situation still makes me a little uncomfortable, but I’m inclined to back the school on it, with the above proviso. <\/p>\n

(via Les<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow. On first blush, this one’s outrageous, then it gets a bit tricky, then, maybe, it will end by being outrageous at the end. The students in a high school…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6280,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/09\/28\/pledge.html","url_meta":{"origin":5337,"position":0},"title":"Pledge","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 28-Sep-04 8:10am","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas,\" it says that the bottom of the page. He's also not all that great of an historian or researcher....","rel":"","context":"In "ZT & PC"","block_context":{"text":"ZT & PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16815,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/02\/26\/taliban-aclu-acorn.html","url_meta":{"origin":5337,"position":1},"title":"Taliban! ACLU! ACORN!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 26-Feb-10 4:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, actually, this doesn't have to do anything with ACORN, but I figured it was part of the mantra of EVIL EVIL EVIL THAT IS INFESTING THIS NATION and so deserved a shoutout. So ... back in January, a teacher got in trouble at a middle school in Maryland because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/american-flag.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4457,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/08\/28\/pledge_drive.html","url_meta":{"origin":5337,"position":2},"title":"Pledge drive","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 28-Aug-03 7:15am","format":false,"excerpt":"Here in Colorado, we've been having the same sort of rancorous Pledge of Allegiance fight in the statehouse and courts and schools that many states have. Never mind that most...","rel":"","context":"In "Church & State"","block_context":{"text":"Church & State","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/church-state"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2411,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/06\/28\/waxed_pledge.html","url_meta":{"origin":5337,"position":3},"title":"Waxed Pledge","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 28-Jun-02 7:11am","format":false,"excerpt":"More interesting history of the Pledge of Allegience in the pages of Reason. Among other tidbits are indications that the Pledge may have been used to sell more flag, and...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9367,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/20\/but_some_branch.html","url_meta":{"origin":5337,"position":4},"title":"But some branches of government are more equal than others","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 20-Jul-06 8:05am","format":false,"excerpt":"Is there no social conservative grandstanding that the House won't posture with these days?\u00a0 The Federal courts have been debating over the Pledge of Allegiance and its \"under God\" clause...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2415,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/06\/27\/fun_pledge_fact.html","url_meta":{"origin":5337,"position":5},"title":"Fun Pledge Facts","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Jun-02 3:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Just to show that the Pledge is hardly on a scale with the Ten Commandments when it comes to age and inviolability ... 1892: I pledge allegiance to my Flag...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}