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Indiana student sues over school graduation prayer

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by WaylonJennings, Mar 12, 2010.

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  1. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Why are people who insist that the law and clear Supreme Court decisions be followed considered whiny attention grabbers who should have their asses kicked?

    There sure are a lot of Americans who seem to hate America.
     
  2. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    He learned in school that what the public school is planning is clearly unconstitutional.

    You know what I hated? Those black kids in the 1960s sitting at lunch counters, getting sprayed with fire hoses and attacked by police dogs just to get their pictures in the paper.
     
  3. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    That is what the school should have done, but to take it to the point of suing them reeks of look at me. Waylon and yourself are completely right legally, I just think the issue is not worth going to court for. Contrary to what Waylons comparisons are this kid is not Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks
     
  4. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Junkie,

    How do you have so much insight into this kid's character and motivation? The Supremes ruled twice recently on this issue. There's really no argument.
     
  5. Point of Order

    Point of Order Active Member

    In moral terms I agree with you that this one event is not equivalent to the civil rights movement. We've all bitten our tongues at things that were wrong; things that we did not agree with; so I completely understand where you're coming from with that. At the same time, I admire the kid for using the basic civics he's learned in school. I admire him for insisting that the law be followed. If that means having to resort to a court of law to insist on his rights then I don't fault him.

    Also, as a matter of process, this is not a million dollar legal bill here. It's not a $10,000 legal bill. It's a $300 filing fee, free representation from the ACLU, and whatever the school wants to spend defending themselves if they insist on worshiping at graduation. And since they have no good argument to proceed on, I don't see why they would be defending themselves. But just in case they did want to litigate, the only lawyering to be done is preparing for one hearing to decide the matter. No depositions. Very little research. Graduation is in a couple of months. It's hard to run up much of a legal bill in that short a time.
     
  6. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Junkie,

    I think you know that there is a difference between having a public prayer at a school and studying religion.

    And one other things high school kids like to do is mess with pompous, idiotic administrators and they dropped this right in his lap.
     
  7. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    My office isn't far from that kid's school. Don't know the kid because he doesn't play sports, at least none of the big ones.

    Have no problem with the concept of the lawsuit. First Amendment. But like others, I think there's attention-whoring here. He's No. 1 in the class, why not use your valedictorian's speech as your pulpit?

    His school superintendent is a reasonable guy (worthless side note: super's kid, an Iowa LB, will probably be picked in the NFL Draft next month), I bet he'd have listened to the kid if he had requested a meeting. Instead, it's straight to lawsuit.
     
  8. Point of Order

    Point of Order Active Member

    Is that bold in the original or emphasis added? :)
     
  9. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    They can't prohibit them from the free exercise. There was a video on youtube someone posted here, I believe, about a graduation exercise in which the kids led their own prayer. That's fine. But it can't be a school-sponsored part of the process. End of story.

    Here's one.



    The ACLU still stuck its nose in, but no one tried to halt it, and the school didn't endorse it.
     
  10. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    If the students voted to be able to smoke pot in class, would that be OK, too?
     
  11. Oggiedoggie

    Oggiedoggie Well-Known Member

    The only thing worse than an attention whore is an attention whore who is legally and ethically on the right side of an argument.
     
  12. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Smug bastard!
     
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