Beaufort County student said he was disciplined for sitting out of Pledge
A Beaufort County student who refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance with his classmates every day says he's being denied his constitutional right to opt out.
The American Humanist Association's legal center agrees. The Washington, D.C.-based group says it works to create a society where "being good without god" is both accepted and respected, according to its website.
The student, a ninth-grader at the district's Right Choices Alternative School, says he's an atheist and, as such, opposes the phrase "under God" in the Pledge, according to a letter sent Thursday from the Appignani Humanist Legal Center to the district. The school, located at the district office in Beaufort, teaches students with disciplinary problems.
When the student, who is not named, has attempted to remain seated during the Pledge, his teacher has instructed him to stand and has threatened punishment if he refuses.
"The student is on the right side here and the school needs to respect his free speech rights," center legal director David Niose said Thursday. "He's not being allowed to simply opt out of the Pledge exercise, which is a pretty egregious and clear violation of his rights."
District superintendent Jeff Moss said he has not been contacted by any student or family regarding the issue. He also said he doesn't know if the allegation made in the letter, which he received via email, is true.
Moss, however, emailed the district's principals and school leaders to remind them of student rights and a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
The court ruled that students have the First Amendment right to opt out of the Pledge. Lower federal courts since have "irrefutably recognized" that right, the center's letter said. Those courts have also concluded that school officials are prohibited from compelling a student to stand during the Pledge, Niose said.
The student in question claims his teacher regularly instructed him to stand during the Pledge, citing school policy requiring all students to do so. The teacher also told him the policy allowed students to be punished if they refused.
Moss said there is no such policy.
According to the letter, the teacher also "quarreled" with the student about his atheism and said that his refusal to participate in the Pledge was unpatriotic and offensive to men and women in uniform.
"There is only one activity here that is an insult to the men and women fighting for our freedom, and that is the teacher's egregious disregard for the student's constitutional rights of free speech and religious freedom," center attorney Monica Miller wrote in the letter.
Moss said he has passed the center's concerns on to Susan Koves-Guillen, the director of the school.
"I'm going to leave it with the director because (she is) the supervisor of the school and if there is anything occurring in (her) school, then (she) should do the initial investigation," he said.
Moss said if a violation is found, the school and district will address the situation then.
Niose said the center does not plan to pursue legal action at this time, but asks that students and teachers be told they can remain seated during the Pledge without fear of punishment.
Follow reporter Sarah Bowman on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Sarah.
Related content:
This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 8:43 PM with the headline "Beaufort County student said he was disciplined for sitting out of Pledge."