Student gets DETENTION for not stopping for Pledge

Read FIRE's Letter to Alexandria-Monroe High School, July 11, 2023 here:
https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-letter-alexandria-monroe-high-school-july-11-2023

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On March 22, Jace Lower arrived late to school. He was walking through a hallway to his first period class when Alexandria began to broadcast the “Pledge of Allegiance” over the school’s PA system.

Jace was told to stop walking, to which he responded that he was not required to stop for the pledge and was going to be late for class. He was then cited for insubordination and assigned one day of in-school detention.

But students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The First Amendment protects not only the right to speak and engage in expressive conduct, but the right to refrain from doing so. That includes the right to participate—or to refuse to participate—in patriotic ceremonies.