Texas attorney general backed a school that expelled a black student for refusing to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance.
India Landry, 18, filed a lawsuit after she was expelled last year from Windfern High School. According to the Washington Post, the school did eventually let her back in days later.
In the suit, Landry’s mother, Kizzy Landry, claimed the school violated constitutional rights and protections of free speech, due process, and equal protection.
The Texas AG immediately got involved in the federal case to defend a Texas law requiring students to recite the pledge or get a parent’s or guardian’s permission if they wish not to.
Requiring the pledge to be recited at the start of every school day has the laudable result of fostering respect for our flag and a patriotic love of our country. Twenty-six other states have similar statutes Attorney General Ken Paxton said Tuesday.
Landry’s attorney, Randall Kallinen, a civil rights lawyer and former president of the Houston ACLU chapter, says there’s important context to this current suit, a flag allegiance climate created post-Kaepernick‘s NFL protests.
Before this case, never one time did I hear of any school forcing kids to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, Kallinen told The Washington Post on Wednesday, citing thousands of requests for assistance in his career. Then, in two weeks, I had three calls.”
In addition to the previous information, the lawsuit shows claims that the school’s assistant principal told Indian that was going to stand for the pledge like the other African American in her class” and that Principal Strother suggested that “Landry write about black justice issues instead of refusing to stand.”