IN TODAY’S EPISODE OF “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT PERSON THINKING?"
The parents of a ninth grade South Carolina student who said she was accosted by a teacher for walking to class instead of stopping and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance are suing the teacher, principal, school district and state education officials.
Marissa Barnwell said she was walking quietly to class and decided not to stop for the pledge or a moment of silence that followed. A teacher yelled at her, confronted her and pushed her against a wall.
Barnwell was then sent to the principal’s office, which she said was humiliating because she feared she was in trouble. The principal sent her back to class, but Barnwell said he never let her know that the teacher was wrong and she was right. — AP
According to the suit, the incident happened in November of 2022 at River Bluff, which is Lexington School District One, and involved 15-year-old Marissa Barnwell. Barnwell's family and attorney held a news conference Thursday regarding their legal actions, and released a video taken by cameras inside River Bluff that they say shows the incident.
In the video you see Barnwell walking down a hallway at around 8:40 a.m. while the Pledge of Allegiance plays over the school speakers. (The Pledge is played daily over the intercom system).
Once Barnwell rounds the corner she is stopped by an instructional assistant.
"She pushes me into a wall then she snatches my ID and says she's going to report me to the office," Marissa Barnwell explained. "I'm just confused and like 'get your hands off of me, get your hands off of me', you can hear me say that in the video. I was just in disbelief, I had never expected something like that to happen to me." — WLTX
While state law requires pledge to be recited every day at school, the code also states that no one should be "penalized for failing to participate" as long as non-participation does not "disrupt school activities."
The youngster has regularly not participated in the pledge, family lawyer Tyler Bailey said.
"She's conscious of the injustices going on in the country," Bailey told NBC News on Friday. "She's conscious of the words and she delivered her actions. And she wasn't being disruptive. She was just going to class."
The Lexington School District One, Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait, the South Carolina Department of Education, [principal Jacob] Smith and [special education teacher Nicole] Livingston are all named as defendants. — NBC News
The South Carolina state law is consistent with SCOTUS ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette [1943].
HOLDING: The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment prohibits public schools from forcing students to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance. District Court affirmed.
The Barnwells are suing the defendants for violating “the girl’s civil rights and her First Amendment rights to both free speech or not to speak at all.”
As of today, the teacher (or assistant — articles have conflicting info on her position) Nicole Livingston is still listed as a school employee on the school’s webpage.
