On The Front Lines
TRI Appeals to Montana Supreme Court on Behalf of Valedictorian Prevented from Speaking Altogether at Graduation over God Remarks
BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Rutherford Institute has appealed to the Montana Supreme Court on behalf of a high school valedictorian who was given an ultimatum by school officials just prior to the graduation ceremony: either delete the references to God from her speech and replace them with more neutral phrases or be forbidden to speak at all at the graduation program. The appeal comes in response to a February 2010 ruling by the Thirteenth Judicial District Court in Montana which held that valedictorian Renee Griffith was not unconstitutionally censored when she was ordered by school officials to remove references to Christ and God from her graduation speech.
A copy of The Rutherford Institute's brief is available at here.
"This is a case of pure censorship and a denial of the freedom of speech," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "If we don't begin protecting the right to free speech in the schools, we are going to lose the right to speak entirely."
Renee Griffith was a co-valedictorian of her 2008 senior class at Butte High School in Montana. By virtue of her scholastic achievements, Renee was selected to speak at the graduation ceremony on May 30, 2008, along with several other students. The students were instructed to speak about what they had learned during their time in high school. Although the valedictorians were asked to prepare their own remarks, Renee and another student, Ethan, planned to deliver their speeches together, alternately mentioning things they had learned in school.
The list of lessons learned ranged from the mundane to the heartfelt. Although school officials allegedly did not object to Ethan's testimonial ("I learned that ... it takes just one person to traverse this planet to gather change. The power for change is inherent in humanity and each individual. We all have the framework for greatness and impact. Thus, it is important that we all realize the foundation within all of us and step out to better and further the world"), they did object to Renee's heartfelt statement about how she learned to persevere and not fear by standing up for her religious convictions: "I learned to persevere these past four years, even through failure or discouragement, when I had to stand for my convictions. I can say that my regrets are few and far between. I didn't let fear keep me from sharing Christ and His joy with those around me. I learned to impart hope, to encourage people to treat each day as a gift. I learned not to be known for my grades or for what I did during school, but for being committed to my faith and morals and being someone who lived with a purpose from God with a passionate love for Him."
Just prior to the graduation ceremony, Renee was ordered to remove the words "Christ" and "God" from her speech and replace them with the following phrases: "sharing my faith" and "lived with a purpose, a purpose derived from my faith and based on a love of mankind." When Renee insisted on her right to use the words of her choice, she was forbidden from speaking altogether at the graduation ceremony. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute filed a free speech lawsuit against Butte High School in May 2009.
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