Texas Attorney General Backs School That Expelled Pledge Protesting Student
On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton submitted a court filing in defense of a Houston school that expelled a student last year for not standing for the pledge of allegiance.
Last October, India Landry filed a lawsuit against Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District for her expulsion after refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance. Citing political turmoil surrounding NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, Landry refused to stand for the pledge. The suit alleges that Landry was sent to the office to have her mother pick her up, and her mother was instructed that she had five minutes to pick her daughter up or Landry would be removed from the property by police.
As reported by the BBC, Attorney General Paxton submitted a court filing in the case, saying that students do not have the ability to refuse to stand for the pledge unless they have submitted parental permission,
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.
This case is about providing for the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance while respecting the parental right to direct the education of children.
In 1943, the Supreme Court ruled that students cannot be forced to participate in the pledge of allegiance, yet several states still have laws that require students to have parental permission to not participate in the pledge.
Landry's attorney Randall Kallinen said that it is very irregular for the state Attorney General to step in on a civil case such as this, and believes Paxton is only doing so as a political move for the upcoming election.