She knew her speech as valedictorian of Foothill High School would be cut short, but Brittany McComb was determined to tell her fellow graduates what was on her mind and in her heart.
But before she could get to the word in her speech that meant the most to her -- Christ -- her microphone went dead…
The decision to cut short McComb's commencement speech Thursday at The Orleans drew jeers from the nearly 400 graduates and their families that went on for several minutes.
However, Clark County School District officials and an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday that cutting McComb's mic was the right call. Graduation ceremonies are school-sponsored events, a stance supported by federal court rulings, and as such may include religious references but not proselytizing, they said.
Before she delivered her commencement speech, McComb met with Foothill administrators, who edited her remarks. It's standard district practice to have graduation speeches vetted before they are read publicly.
School officials removed from McComb's speech some biblical references and the only reference to Christ.
But even though administrators warned McComb that her speech would get cut short if she deviated from the language approved by the school, she said it all boiled down to her fundamental right to free speech.
Aside from the pathetic stupidity of the notion that there is some sort of constitutional protection against being offended by the religious views of another, or that the First Amendment protects a freedom from religion rather than the freedom of religion I find it particularly odious that a lawyer (later identified as Allen Lichtenstein) had read the unedited version of the speech, and was apparently given some veto authority over what the young lady was permitted to say. There is something very, very much wrong with that!
(Incidentally, all of you “knuckle-dragging, testosterone-laden, patriotic American males” might want to check out the picture that accompanies the original article. Definitely HOT!)