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PRESS RELEASE: Contact: Kirk D. Lyons 828-669-5189
SLRC Responds to Courier-Times Story
The Board of Directors and Staff of the Southern Legal Resource Center, Inc. take the strongest possible exception to the October 18, 2003 misleading story filed by the Roxboro Courier-Times (Flag flap: Parents may back away from lawsuit vs schools) regarding the SLRC's meeting with Person County parents and students concerned about the ban of Confederate symbols by the Person County Board of Education.
The SLRC submits the following:
1. The meeting was private and the C-T reporter was not invited. The C-T has no free speech rights in a private meeting, nor should their reporter be allowed to overhear confidences shared with the SLRC with the expectation that they will not be broadcast to the world.
2. The reporter failed to make her presence known, and when observed was politely asked to leave. Chief Trial counsel Lyons wisely declined to continue speaking until the reporter departed.
3. Had the reporter acted professionally, respected the privacy rights of the parents and students and contacted Mr. Lyons before or after the meeting, he would have been happy to give her an interview and make parents and students available to her.
4. Despite the quotes unattributed sources who apparently lack any knowledge of the 1st Amendment, the Courier-Times has absolutely no rights in a matter involving the SLRC and interested parents.
5. The SLRC is not committed to a lawsuit or any particular action in Person County, but did share propose possible courses of action to the attendees. Counter to the unattributed quotes in the C-T article, the suggested actions by the SLRC were warmly endorsed by the citizens present and several families are interested in pursuing protection of their rights.
6. An informed citizenry willing to pursue all legal remedies for protection of their rights has always been the worst nightmare for autocrats posing as elected officials. The SLRC sincerely appreciates the C-T taking Mr. Lyons remarks out of context.
Education and accountability of elected officials is the key to the problem in Person County, whether it is redressed by Judicial or political action, it was part of the SLRC's duty to fully explain all legal options for redress available to Person County citizens.
7. Any parent who wishes to work out the school ban with school officials is of course free to do so. They will fail unless they are willing to work together with other parents and students to change the Board's policy. The SLRC often see this kind of naiveté. These parents will learn the hard way.
8. The SLRC has never intimated to anyone that their children's rights are more important than other students.' We continue to emphasize that the rights of Confederate Southern American children are not less important, than the rights of other students!
9. The C-T reporter made no attempt to contact the SLRC before filing their story on the meeting, and for this the paper should apologize and allow the SLRC to file a guest editorial. The SLRC is a non-profit tax exempt Civil Rights Law firm that specializes in Confederate heritage litigation.
Flag flap: Parents may back away from lawsuit vs. schools BY PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
A meeting was held Thursday night in which attorneys for the Southern Legal Resource Center drew up a game plan for taking the Person County Board of Education to court over the recent ban on Confederate flags at the high school, but that idea apparently was quickly shot down by many of the local folk in attendance.
During the meeting, Kirk D. Lyons, director of the SLRC, refused to speak after discovering that The Courier-Times had a reporter present. The newspaper was asked to leave by a member of the E. Fletcher Satterfield Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the group that arranged the meeting.
On Friday, parents who were present at the meeting contacted the newspaper and said they did not want to be associated with the group, however, because it did not reflect the views or the values they wanted to pass on to their children. The parents said asking the newspaper to leave the meeting proved to the parents that their objectives were vastly different from those of the SLRC.
Isn't freedom of the press also a part of free speech? one parent asked. If they (groups like SLRC) take away your (newspaper's) rights, then what will they do to someone else's?
This is about everyone's rights, not just my child's, said another parent. We want equal rights for all to express their opinions and ideas.
Some parents said they were shocked to hear some of Lyons suggestions, which included parents becoming elected officials worst nightmare. Let them know they (school board members) will not be re-elected, he added, unless the school board rescinds the ban imposed by Person High School Principal Greg Hicks last week.
Hicks issued the ban on the wearing or displaying of items showing the Confederate States battle flag, after display of the flag apparently caused a fight between two students. Hicks, imposing the ban, reasoned that the displaying of Confederate items was becoming disruptive to the learning environment at the high school. Teachers had also complained about their classes being disrupted. Following the announcement of the ban, some students and parents of students claimed that First Amendment rights of free speech and expression had been violated by the ban.
Hicks and Schools Supt. Ronnie G. Bugnar have said, though, that school system attorneys advised them that the First Amendment does not apply in situations on school grounds where student safety is at issue and where the classroom is being disturbed.
Parents who contacted The Courier-Times on Friday, following Thursday night's meeting, said they still do not agree with the ban, and continued to be concerned about their children's rights, but did not want to express their opinions in the manner proposed by attorney Lyons.
What kind of lesson would I be teaching my child? one parent said, If I let him believe his rights were more important than anyone else's?
Parents generally expressed the belief that they could work out their disagreement with the school on their own, without going through drastic measures such as federal lawsuits.
As for the situation this week at Person High School, Assistant Principal Margaret Bradsher and Principal Hicks said Friday was a great day. They reported no problems related to the ban and said they, along with students, were looking forward to Friday night's Homecoming festivities.
http://www.roxborocourier.com/sections/topstories/0310184FlagFlap.htm
Copyright © 2003, The Roxboro Courier-Times, All Rights Reserved.
The SLRC is a non-profit, tax exempt, South Carolina public law firm that serves as an "ACLU" for Southern heritage.
For more information about HK's March Across Dixie contact:
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