Like Nevada's Brittany McComb before her , Erica Corder, a former valedictorian at a Colorado high school, sued school officials in the aftermath of her graduation speech. The principal required Corder to apologize for using the podium to proselytize, straying from her approved remarks. And also like McComb, Corder's legal challenge claiming her school district violated her rights, has finally come to an end now that the Supreme Court has declined to take up her appeal.
Corder filed a lawsuit against the school district and school officials, charging that they violated her right to free speech by punishing her for the content of her graduation comments and by later forcing her to issue an apology partly written by the principal.
At issue in her suit was to what extent students possess free-speech rights while participating in school-sponsored activities.
…
A federal judge dismissed Corder's lawsuit, ruling that school officials acted within their constitutional authority in preapproving graduation speeches and dictating the content of her apology statement. The Tenth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld that ruling.
