It seems that the battle in America to protect the First Amendment rights of Americans never seems to end. Yesterday, the 10th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado heard arguments on whether or not to affirm the free speech rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution for a high school student named Erica Corder.
Erica was punished by the Lewis-Palmer High School near Colorado Springs in 2006 when she gave remarks as a class valedictorian at her high school graduation. Her attorneys argue that school officials intimidated her and forced her into writing an apology for expressing her religious beliefs in her 30-second message at graduation.
Erica Corder's attorneys filed a lawsuit against the Lewis Palmer School District in August 2007 and a year and a half later the federal court of appeals in Denver finally heard the arguments of both sides of the issue yesterday. Instead of giving the typical speech that a valedictorian makes, she deviated from her prepared text which had been seen in advance by her high school principal, and she expressed her faith in Jesus Christ and encouraged those at the graduation ceremonies to learn more about Him.
Her wonderful remarks which supposedly hurt some of her listeners were these: "We are all capable of standing firm and expressing our own beliefs, which is why I need to tell you about someone who loves you more than you could ever imagine. He died for you on a cross over 2,000 years ago, yet was resurrected and is living today in heaven. His name is Jesus Christ. If you don't already know him personally I encourage you to find out more about the sacrifice he made for you so that you now have the opportunity to live in eternity with him."
Incredibly, immediately after the ceremony, Erica was told that because of those added remarks in her speech, she would be not receiving her diploma with the other students. Instead, she was hauled before the Lewis-Palmer principal, Mr. Brewer, who forced her to write an apology before she could receive her diploma. This forced apology was then disseminated to the Lewis-Palmer high school community.
A liberal federal lower court dismissed Erica Corder's lawsuit basically saying that her speech was "school-sponsored" and therefore was not her own speech. Thus, in the lower court's opinion, the forced apology was not improper. It is hard to believe that religious freedom, or more accurately, lack of religious freedom has come to this in America.
Let us hope and pray that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will restore religious freedom to its proper place in America and uphold the freedom of this courageous young woman, Erica Colder, and others like her to express their God-given rights to free speech in America.
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