Teen forced to apologize for speech files suit

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MONUMENT, Colo. — After class valedictorian Erica Corder delivered her graduation speech, a school official told her to issue an apology or risk having her diploma withheld.

The problem? Miss Corder told the audience of parents and students about "someone who loves you more than you could ever imagine," namely, Jesus Christ.

Worried that she might jeopardize her college admission, Miss Corder agreed to send an e-mail to the Lewis-Palmer High School community — including parents — apologizing for failing to warn school officials about the content of her speech.

Today, however, the only thing she's sorry about is that apology. Last week, Miss Corder filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the school district of violating her rights to free speech and equal protection.

"The main reason I'm doing this is for students in the future," she said in a telephone interview from Wheaton, Ill., where she attends Wheaton College. "I want to make sure they aren't afraid of saying what they believe, and I want the school district to know what they did was wrong."

She's being represented by the Virginia-based Liberty Counsel, a public-interest law firm specializing in First Amendment issues. The founder, Mathew Staver, called the school's actions "unconstitutional and shocking."

"It's one thing for a school to disagree with what she did and send out their own e-mail," said Mr. Staver. "But to force a student to send out an e-mail by threatening to withhold her diploma is just shocking."

Lewis-Palmer spokeswoman Robin Adair said the school district would "vigorously defend" its position, insisting that "all actions taken by school officials were constitutionally appropriate."

School districts have their own rules that apply to anyone on the property, she noted, such as restrictions on profanity. She also pointed out that Miss Corder gave one version of her speech at a rehearsal, then changed it for the actual ceremony.

After the June 2006 graduation, Steve Corder, Miss Corder's father, said he spent more than a year trying to persuade the district to clarify its policy, without success. The primary goal of the litigation, he said, is to resolve the gray area surrounding graduation speeches.

"Our hope is that there would be some clarification in this situation so that future valedictorians will know what they can speak on," said Mr. Corder, executive director of finance for Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. "But our thought is that student speakers should be able to speak on whatever topic they choose."

Miss Corder was one of 15 valedictorians each allocated 30 seconds to speak at the 2006 graduation ceremony. She said didn't mention religion at the rehearsal for fear her remarks would be censored.

After the ceremony, she was ushered by a teacher to meet with the assistant principal, who told her that she would no longer receive her diploma. Five days later, principal Mark Brewer told her that the only way to obtain the diploma would be to apologize to the community for what he called her "immature" comments, according to the lawsuit.

Miss Corder, now 19, said she refused to apologize for her remarks about Jesus Christ, but did write an e-mail saying the statement was her own. The principal also insisted that she include the sentence, "I realize that, had I asked ahead of time, I would not have been allowed to say what I did," according to the lawsuit.

"I really felt that if I didn't apologize, I wouldn't get my diploma and I wouldn't graduate," she said.