I Stand Proud For The Pledge, But I Won't Force You To Do The Same

Federal Judge Strikes Down Florida Pledge Of Allegiance Recitation Requirement

People do not often realize that requiring someone to recite the Pledge of Allegiance can, in some cases, violates a person's right to exercise their religion. For instance, many Branch Davidians, Seventh Day Adventists and all Jehovah's Witnesses have religious objections to taking oaths or swearing before God, pledging allegiance to an idol (the flag can be considered an idol by some people), or vowing to support the government over their religious convictions. So, it is not just a "strike down" on the basis of the phrase "under God," but a strike down on the basis of the free exercise clause.

A federal judge has declared a state law requiring students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, stating it violated the rights of a Palm Beach County student who sued the state last year.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp also ruled unconstitutional the provision of the 1942 Florida law requiring students to obtain permission from their parents to be excused from reciting the pledge.

The American Civil Liberties Union cheered Ryskamp's decision as a landmark ruling that upholds all Florida students' free speech rights.

"The highest tradition of being an American is freedom of thought and freedom of speech," ACLU attorney James Green said Thursday. "Freedom of speech includes the right to speak and the right not to speak, and not to be forced to speak in a certain way."

But conservative legislators decried the decision, which they said was an assault by "liberal" and "activist" judges on the beliefs of the majority.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, called the decision "ludicrous." Fasano this year spearheaded an unsuccessful attempt to ask Florida voters to decide whether the state constitution should require students to stand and recite the pledge. Students would have needed a parent's permission to be excused.

"What a federal judge has done is taken away patriotism from our schools," Fasano said.

In December, Boynton Beach High School junior Cameron Frazier, 17, sued the state Department of Education, the Palm Beach County School Board, a teacher and an assistant principal, saying his rights were violated when the teacher berated him in front of his class when he refused to stand for the pledge.

The school board in February agreed to pay Frazier $32,500, a decision that drew vehement criticism from some parents and veterans groups. Board members also decided students did not have to stand for the pledge and did not need parental permission to opt out, saying they had been following state law in crafting their policy.

The school district's settlement was dependent on a judge declaring the law unconstitutional.

Ryskamp ordered the school district to halt the policy, but school district spokesman Nat Harrington said the ruling would have little impact because district schools already have posted notices to that effect. Ryskamp's order also requires the district to remove the policy from its student handbooks, which Harrington said is "in the works."

"We have already implemented many aspects of that," Harrington said of Ryskamp's order, which is dated Wednesday.

State Department of Education spokeswoman Cathy Schroeder said department attorneys will review the decision to decide whether to appeal.

"Of course, we're disappointed with the decision," she said.

In his decision, Ryskamp cited a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a West Virginia law requiring students to salute and pledge to the flag violated their First and 14th Amendment rights.

Since that case, Ryskamp stated, "federal courts have established a body of case law that irrefutably recognizes the right of students to remain silent and seated during the pledge."

State lawyers had argued that striking down the Florida law would violate parents' constitutional rights, citing a 2004 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a California father's plea to strike the words "under God" from the pledge.

But Ryskamp said that decision didn't support the state's "novel legal assertions" and in fact recognized the ability of a student to assert constitutional rights.

But the justices decided the father, Michael Newdow, lacked the standing to represent his daughter in court because he didn't have custody of her.

Ryskamp also rejected the state's argument that Frazier and the school board were misinterpreting the law, which state lawyers claimed allowed students to sit during the pledge with permission.

State Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, said the decision was "typical of the ACLU and activist judges combining to create another hit at our traditional values of our country."

"To let a 6- or 7- or 8-year-old decide, whether or not they have parental permission, is insane," he said.

Pruitt this year sent letters to state Republicans seeking contributions for what he called a fight by the "anti-God left" against the pledge. State Democrats have said Republicans are exploiting the pledge lawsuit for fund-raising purposes.

Fasano's bill died in Pruitt's committee, but Pruitt said Ryskamp's decision would have meant that such a law would be overturned anyway because federal rulings trump state law. He said a nationwide grass-roots effort is needed to "stop the insanity," though he could not detail what such an effort would entail.

Frazier could not be reached for comment Thursday, but he has said in a statement that he is patriotic and believes the meaning of the flag has been tarnished by the "recent policies of our government."

The ACLU emphasized that its challenge never sought to remove the pledge from the classroom, nor did it seek to change its content. Green said the case was about students' rights to "speak or not to speak."

"We all have an affirmed First Amendment right to pray to God and to pledge allegiance to the flag," he said. "All this decision says is that if we don't want to pledge allegiance to the flag, we don't have to and if we're students, we don't need our parents' permission not to recite the pledge."