Judge Rules Against Student Plaintiff in Graduation Censorship Suit
by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
January 13, 2005
(AgapePress) - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a graduating Virginia high school student who was prohibited from singing a Celine Dion song at her commencement ceremony because of its religious content.In April 2003, a teacher acting as the senior class adviser at Windsor High School in Virginia told senior Anna Ashby that lyrics to a pop song called "The Prayer" were too religious to be sung at the school's graduation exercises. The student had volunteered along with a classmate to sing at the ceremony in response to a class sponsor's invitation. The lyrics of the students' chosen song, "The Prayer," are framed as a nonsectarian invocation, asking God to "help us to be wise" and, "when we lose our way, lead us to the place, guide us with your grace ..." and also expressing the hope that "each soul will find another soul to love."
But after the Isle of Wight County School District superintendent, Dr. Michael McPherson, reviewed the lyrics of the song, which Ashby had provided at a teacher's request, he instructed Windsor High School officials to tell the two students they would not be allowed to sing at the graduation ceremony. McPherson felt performing the song would violate the school's policy on the separation of church and state, and at a special June 12, 2003, school board meeting, the board defended the decision to forbid the students' performance.
After being informed that she would not be allowed to sing her song, Ashby filed a lawsuit against the Isle of Wight County School District. Recently, however, U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that Windsor High School officials did not violate Ashby's free speech rights, and declared that school officials had the right to control the content of the graduation ceremony.
Ashby's attorney, James Knicely of The Rutherford Institute, takes issue with the judge's decision. He says the court "basically slighted a lot of facts that Anna had developed," instead focusing on a technicality in the case -- "the fact that the school board itself had not actually voted to deny her appearance."
A Bad Call in a Clear Case of Discrimination
The lawsuit contended that, in banning Ashby's song, Windsor High School had violated clear guidelines based on the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution -- guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Education that prohibit censorship of a student graduation speaker's personal religious viewpoint. However, Judge Jackson found that the high school had not violated Ashby's rights, a decision which Knicely says "turned a great deal on technical legal arguments as to whether or not there could be a claim [against the district] for the actions of the principal."
The Rutherford Institute attorney maintains that Ashby was definitely a victim of unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, and that the school violated her rights to free speech and religious expression by prohibiting her musical selection solely on the basis of its religious content.
"In this context," Knicely explains, "where a student is simply performing a song, which was titled 'The Prayer,' that seemed to be the big bugaboo among school officials. They were afraid to even permit that to be sung, even though other students were free to say what they wanted to say in their speeches." In fact, the litigator points out, one student at the graduation ceremony even "gave a fairly lengthy, two- or three-minute rendition of the biblical story of Joseph and the obstacles he faced from the Bible."
After the federal court issued its ruling, Rutherford Institute president John W. Whitehead gave a statement, noting that even Judge Jackson "recognized that this might have been another case had the school board been sued for not allowing a student to sing a religious song where the school had a 'hands-off' policy towards student speakers." Whitehead says his legal organization will be reviewing these school policies carefully and "will continue to stand in defense of students' rights."
After careful deliberation, Ashby has decided not to appeal the decision in her case. However, she says she is grateful to The Rutherford Institute for its hard work and dedication in helping her fight for her religious liberty and constitutional rights, and she hopes other students will be encouraged to stand up for their beliefs as well.
