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According to this article it was the school that broke the rules, and the principal wanted to torpedo the kid's nomination to the Naval Academy in retribution. Here's the speech:

“We are all fortunate to live in a country where we can express our beliefs, where our mics won’t be turned off, as I have been threatened to be if I veer away from the school-censored speech I have just finished,” he said according to the Star. “Just as Jesus spoke out against the authority of the Pharisees and Sadducees, who tried to silence him, I will not have my freedom of speech taken away from me. And I urge you all to do the same. Do not let anyone take away your religious or Constitutional rights from you.”

But Sasser said the school district violated state and federal laws by censoring Reimer’s speech. He said the law, along with local school policy, requires the school to distance itself from the valedictorian’s speech. That means not editing or drafting the speech.

The school was also required to publish a message in the graduation program that read in part, “the content of each student-speaker’s message is the private expression of the individual student and does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position or expression of the District.”

Sasser said contrary to the law and its own policies the Joshua Independent School District failed to include the disclaimer and not only edited – but tried to control Reimer’s speech.

n5wd wrote:So, you'd allow a student to stand up at graduation and start railing against a particular church or group of churches, or would let them recommend violent revolution within your little burg, or suggest to the rest of their class that there shouldn't be rules that govern minor's use of alcohol, or praise the act of abortion, or start cussing up a blue streak?

And ruin every other parent's memory of when their little Suzy and Johnnie graduated from high school?

Nope, I didn't think you would, either.

That's why valedictorians speeches have to be pre-approved. And the school, any school whether it's public, private or parochial, has the right to insist that the student keep to his pre-approved script.

I sure would. Free speech means sometimes people are offended....tough. It would sure improve the quality of Valedictory speeches --maybe the audience would get to hear something interesting instead of a bunch of meaningless platitudes. It is highly unlikely that a Valedictorian is going to express himself in ways that you fear. It would be refreshing to hear a speech about the propaganda and imposition of conformity in public schools, from someone just escaping it. It would be refreshing to hear a speech about the idiocy of zero tolerance. It wouldn't ruin my memory of my son's graduation because unless he was the Valedictorian, the speech wouldn't have anything to do with him; and if he was Valedictorian, he'd be saying something I'd be proud to hear him say.