Youth Sues for Right Not to Stand, Recite Pledge

A high schooler’s refusal to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance has sparked a constitutional battle against his teacher and the Palm Beach County School Board.

Backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Boynton Beach Community High School junior Cameron Frazier, 17, contended in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that he was ridiculed and punished Dec. 8 when he twice refused to stand for the pledge during algebra class.

Citing the 1st and 14th Amendments, Frazier is challenging the school district and Florida law, which requires a parent’s written permission for students to refuse to recite the pledge and requires such students to stand in respect for the flag. He wants unspecified damages and legal fees.

“This lawsuit is not about the Pledge of Allegiance,” said ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon. “It is about his right to choose not to stand to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.”

School district spokesman Nat Harrington said he could not discuss specific pending litigation. But the district abides by state law, he said, which requires that the pledge be recited at all elementary, middle and high schools and that a conspicuous notice be posted telling students that they can be exempted from the requirement if a parent requests that in writing.

But even then, students must stand during the pledge, Harrington said.

According to a statement supplied by the ACLU, Frazier has not stood for the pledge since the sixth grade. His mother said that had never been a problem until the incident in Cynthia Alexandre’s class.

“This case is about him,” Frazier’s mother, Christine, said Thursday. “It’s about his rights as a U.S. citizen.”

Frazier was traveling Thursday night to visit his father for the holidays and could not be reached for comment.

In the ACLU statement, Frazier said: “I believe that the real meaning of the flag -- freedom, liberty and equality -- has been tarnished by the recent policies of our government.”

He added: “Patriotism is more than going along with everybody else and just saluting a flag. It’s about things like supporting our troops during the holidays and helping hurricane victims.”

The lawsuit accuses Alexandre of telling her student: “You are so ungrateful and so un-American.” Assistant Principal Richard Poorman, who is also named in the suit, had Frazier removed from class.