2006 Graduation Leads To New Lawsuit On Student Religious Speech Rights

Liberty Counsel announced that yesterday it filed suit in federal court against Lewis Palmer School District in Monument, Colorado to challenge actions taken over a year ago at a district high school's 2006 graduation. At the graduation, 15 students co-wrote a speech, and each person delivered 30 seconds of it. Erica Corder's portion consisted of testimony about her faith in Jesus and a plea for others to learn more about Jesus. The content of her presentation came as a surprise to the principal, since it differed from the draft that Corder had submitted in advance. The principal required Corder to compose an apology which was e-mailed to the entire high school community. (See prior posting.) Corder says that since the 2006 graduation, the school has continued to portray her publicly as a student whose mention of Jesus was improper. Her suit was filed after the school board failed to respond to Corder's request for an apology and for a change in school policy to ensure that no future free speech violations occur. Citizen Link also reports on the lawsuit.