Law Requiring Students to Get Parental Consent to Opt Out of Pledge Is Upheld
A federal appeals court has upheld a Florida law that required students to get their parents’ permission before being excused from the Pledge of Allegiance.
A federal judge had said the law “robs the student of the right to make an independent decision,” but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no First Amendment violation in a facial challenge to the law, according to the Fulton County Daily Report.
The appeals court said the parental consent provision restricts students’ freedom of speech while protecting the constitutional right of parents to raise their children as they see fit.
Ruling on a separate provision, the appeals court opinion (PDF) struck down a requirement that all students and other “civilians” must stand at attention during the pledge. The court said the provision unconstitutionally required even students excused from the pledge to stand when it is given.
The court said that in a future as-applied challenge the balance could tip in favor of “a mature high school student” over his parents, the Palm Beach Post reports. But it refused to strike down the parental consent provision in a broad facial challenge to the law.
In a series of recent rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that facial challenges to laws require a heavy burden of persuasion, the ABA Journal reported in July.
