Football Officiating > State-Specific Topics (Texas Not Included)

National Anthem Protest in N.J.

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AlUpstateNY:
Repeating, or condoning, bad behavior doesn't correct or excuse it.

Joe Stack:

--- Quote ---The Supreme Court decided, in 1943, that a public school cannot force students to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Forcing students to stand for the national anthem, or punishing students who do not, is a violation of their First Amendment rights to free speech. Children or not, they still have these rights.
--- End quote ---

Except that athletics is a privilege and a team may remove a player for conduct it deems detrimental. This includes certain otherwise thought of as first amendment rights.

There's a difference between forced recitation and requiring someone (on the field) to stand during the anthem. The school is not required to provide you a platform to exercise your so-called first amendment right unless it provides it for others. For example -- school newspapers, even though the Supreme Court has held that a secondary school has a little more control over what can be published than, say, a college newspaper. Plus, kneeling is not in and of itself speech, and it sure isn't protected speech. The football field is what is called a limited public forum. No student can walk out during the game holding a sign saying whatever and disrupt the game. Prohibiting that is no more prohibiting their first amendment rights than requiring players to stand during certain times.

With that said, as officials we need to do our job and not get involved in this. If you choose not to accept an assignment because a school does this, that's fine. But once you get there, enforce the rules and go about your business.

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