Video: Refusal to pledge

A Tyner Academy senior will return to school Wednesday after she was suspended Monday for refusing to stand during the pledge of allegiance.

The 10-day suspension of Quinesha Garrett, 18, was a “clear violation of her constitutional rights,” said attorney Jesse Dalton.

Ms. Garrett did not stand nor recite the pledge for religious reasons. She believes she should not pledge her allegiance to anyone but God.

Staff Photo by Gillian Bolsover -- Tyner Academy senior Quinesha Garrett stands outside the school today. Ms. Garrett was suspended Monday after refusing to stand during the pledge of allegiance. After meeting with attorney Jesse Dalton, the school revoked the suspension, and Ms. Garrett will return to school Wednesday.

The students said school officials were wrong to discipline her.

“I knew I had the choice not to stand as long as I wasn’t being disruptive,” Ms. Garrett said.

School officials have not yet returned calls for this report.

Under the suspension, Ms. Garrett would have been compelled to go to night school, missing out on work that could have affected her May 17 graduation date. She also would not have been allowed to go on the senior trip to Florida Thursday, for which she has already paid $400.

“The practical matter is, (the suspension was) punishment for exercising her constitutional rights,” Mr. Dalton said. “And I don’t think Tyner will make this mistake again.”

Tennessee law states that “no student shall be compelled to recite the Pledge of Allegiance” if the student or a guardian objects on religious, philosophical or other grounds. The code allows such students to “remain quietly standing or sitting at their desks” while others recite the pledge.

In a meeting with Tyner Academy officials this afternoon, Mr. Dalton said he advised them of the law and threatened to take them to court if they did not follow it.

For complete coverage, read tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Comments