Court ends Las Vegas student’s lawsuit over censorship

Foothill High School 2006 graduate Brittany McComb, who is studying Islam and the works of author C.S. Lewis at Oxford University in England, had her intellectual pursuits disrupted by some disappointing news from home.

Her lawsuit against Clark County School District staff and administrators for censoring her valedictorian speech essentially ended in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday.

A three-judge panel issued a memorandum reversing a federal judge's 2007 decision not to grant a district motion to dismiss the case. The panel remanded the case to federal court for dismissal and said school officials did not violate McComb's right to free speech by stopping a "proselytizing graduation speech."

When McComb spoke at the Henderson school's commencement, her microphone was unplugged when she said, "God's love is so great that he gave his only son up to an excruciating death on a cross so his blood would cover all our shortcomings and our relationship with him could be restored."

The video clip of her censored speech has gotten more than 25,000 views on YouTube. McComb also discussed the incident on a Fox News cable show.

"I wasn't looking for personal exaltation," McComb said in an e-mail. "I chose to muster up the courage to let myself become vulnerable and subject to being labeled 'uncool' in order to share a very personal, and powerful part of my life from my high school experience. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't believe it is indeed what made me 'successful.'"

Nat Hentoff, a syndicated columnist who writes on First Amendment issues, has used the Clark County School District as an example of educators' poor understanding of the freedom of speech. He says Clark County, like many school districts, practices "prior restraint" in previewing and editing graduation speeches.

Foothill officials unplugged McComb when she strayed from the approved text. McComb contended that she wasn't proselytizing and was just like other graduates in explaining the reasons for her success. In her case, she gave the credit to God.

In court documents, attorneys for the district said that McComb was allowed to give the majority of her speech and make religious references, but that some of her comments were too sectarian or proselytizing.

McComb rejects the argument that public schools cannot be put in the position of endorsing religion because it's "hard for me to believe that anyone at graduation could think I or any other speaker was speaking on behalf of the school system."

When McComb finishes her semester abroad, she will return to Biola University, a private Christian college in La Mirada, Calif., where she is a journalism major. She plans to graduate next spring.

"I'm not entirely sure about my plans after graduation," she said. "I definitely want to attend graduate school, possibly to study theology and philosophy. First I'll have to take a few years off to work and save to pay for it though."

She was represented in the case by the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties organization based in Charlottesville, Va.

James Knicely, her pro bono lawyer, was disappointed that the case was decided "prematurely." He said they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but he acknowledged that the "odds are not great" that the case will be heard.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.