Can valedictorians, salutatorians, or honorary student speakers give speeches on religious subjects, including reading from the Bible?
Yes! As stated previously, it is well settled that religious speech is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. [FN22] The Supreme Court has firmly held that school administrators can only prohibit protected speech by students when it “materially and substantially interfere[s] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school.” [FN23] Where students have been granted freedom to compose their own speeches (e.g., valedictorian or salutatorian addresses, etc.), or even their own commencement exercise, protected student expression should not be subjected to censorship because of its content. In fact, it is a fundamental proposition of constitutional law that a governmental body may not suppress or exclude the speech of private parties for the sole reason that the speech contains a religious perspective. [FN24] To deny this bedrock principle would be to undermine the essential guarantees of free speech and religious freedom under the First Amendment
