Texas Attorney General Seeks To Intervene In Student Pledge Case

The Texas Attorney General has sought to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a student who was disciplined for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.   The suit was filed on behalf of India Landry after she was expelled from Windfern High School in Harris County. The suit alleges violations of the student’s First Amendment free speech rights.  Landry, who was a senior at the time of the expulsion, did not return to school and missed graduation.

Texas Education Code § 25.082 requires students to stand for the pledge unless they opt out through a written request from the student’s parent or guardian.  It is alleged that the student refused to stand for the pledge without formally opting out through a written request by her parent.

According to Attorney General Ken Paxton, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that parents have a fundamental interest in guiding the education and upbringing of their children, and that “interest rightfully includes determining whether their children should participate in the time-honored tradition of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag.  Plaintiffs challenge Texas’s statute directing school districts to have their students recite the Pledge unless the student is excused by written request from a parent or guardian. Texas intervenes to protect that parental right.”

The case is set for trial next year.  Read more at CBS News.

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