Do Students Have to Say the Pledge of Allegiance?
“If there is any fixed start in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.” West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943). The law regarding this issue is quite clear. The right to refrain from saluting the flag is one of the most stringently upheld constitutional principles relating to students. More than fifty years ago, in a major U.S. Supreme Court case, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), the Court held that a compulsory flag salute violated the right of all citizens to free expression. The West Virginia Board of Education had adopted a resolution ordering that the salute [and pledge of allegiance] to the flag become “a regular part of the program of activities in the public schools,” and that all teachers and pupils ” shall b
