The First Amendment is clear that the federal government – and through the Fourteenth Amendment, all state governments – cannot abridge the people’s rights to free speech.
Nor can the state compel the people to engage in certain types of speech, an example of which is a 1943 Supreme Court ruling that struck down a West Virginia law requiring students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
In an opinion written by Robert Houghwout Jackson, the Court found that the First Amendment cannot enforce a unanimity of opinion on any topic, and national symbols like the flag should not receive a level of deference that trumps constitutional protections. He argued that curtailing or eliminating dissent was an improper and ineffective way of generating unity.
That ruling hasn’t stopped local governments from trying to mandate speech – usually in the form of making kids recite the pledge. The latest example comes from Arizona, where the Legislature seems determined to pass a pledge law that will inevitably end up in court:
Rep. Barbara Parker (R-Mesa) introduced House Bill 2523 in January. It adds a recitation requirement to existing state law that already requires schools to set aside a specific time each day for students to say the pledge.
“Each student shall recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States during this time,” unless a parent requests that the student be excused, the law says.
Arizona state law also already requires school districts and charter schools to display a U.S. flag in every classroom.
There’s fig leaf exception – “unless a parent requests a student be excused.” That’s intended to avoid the Supreme Court ruling. And it might just be enough to hold up.
That’s because pledge mandates (with exceptions) are the rule in almost every state.
It would be far better if government didn’t compel speech it knows it legally can’t (hence the exemptions) in the first place. But that would require understanding that free speech is a messy, complicated, and sometimes vexing thing. And also one of our most cherished freedoms.
Except for kids in government schools. Which makes Justice Jackson’s 1943 opinion all the more relevant.”
…[the] freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.
The freedom to differ, to object, to dissent over issues big and small are bedrock American principles. Contrary to the assertions of politicians, they never become “obsolete” or go out of style.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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The godless freaking demoncraps have just about destroyed everything good about America and it will all come down on them with a vengeance. The inveterate LIARS have retributive justice coming to them and they have a real special place in hell!
Hooray awesome
Instead of mandating the Pledge, why don’t we return to teaching Civics and begin it at an earlier age? Reciting the Pledge is just rote memorization, and it doesn’t explain itself to children, who mostly lack any context to why we pledgew allegiance and what it stands for. Our country isn’t perfect, and we’ve made many mistakes over the last 250 years, buy the point is we’re trying to achieve a balanced ideal that was as revolutionary in 1776, as it still is today.
We’ll never achieve a perfect balance because we are imperfect creatures, but the whole point is that we continually strive towards that lofty goal. We do that by education. Children need to learn the good along with the bad. Without both,, they have no context to judge their own actions by.. That’s why whitewashing history, no matter which side of the debate is doing the whitewashing, is so bad.
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‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands: one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.’ Sacred words burned into my memory. Say them with pride. May the hateful DemoCreeps who despise America founder, fall and ROT.
The 14th amendment DOES NOT extend ANY restrictions on states. The states were already subject to EVERY restriction prior to the 14th amendment as after it was adopted.
The Constitutionality of the law aside, the 14th amendment IS NOT RELEVANT to the question.