A Nevada high school student who was prohibited from starting a pro-life club at her school has filed a lawsuit against the school district.
Angelique Clark, a rising junior at West Career and Technical Academy (WCTA), was told by the school’s Assistant Principal that a pro-life club would be too exclusive, that there are others “far more qualified” to discuss abortion than she, and that public schools are “different” when it comes to First Amendment rights.
According to the complaint, Clark submitted an application to the school’s Activities Office in December 2014. Her application included the required signature of a faculty advisor, a constitution for her club, and a list of 25 interested students – more than double the required minimum of 10 interested students.
However, Clark was eventually told in February that she would not be able to form her group.
Other attempted communication to the administration went unanswered, leading her to seek legal help from Students for Life of America (SFLA), and their attorneys at the Thomas More Society.
“We hope that the court will quickly recognize the illegal and unconstitutional denial of Angelique’s Students for Life club and require West Career and Technical Academy to respect the rights of all its students under both the First Amendment and Equal Access Act,” said a statement from Jocelyn Floyd, an Associate Counsel of the Thomas More Society.
According to the lawsuit, WCTA violated the Equal Access Act, which prohibits public secondary schools that receive federal funds and offer a “limited open forum” from denying any student equal access to that forum based on the content of the student’s speech.
Additionally, the lawsuit states, the First Amendment includes the rights of students to express their opinions – even religious and political opinions – at school.
“When I first applied to form a pro-life club, I never imagined I would have to sue my school to be able to exercise my free speech rights,” Clark said in a statement. “My fellow pro-life students and I simply want to make our voices heard and to educate other students on a topic that’s important to us—choosing life. We hope for a quick resolution that allows us to get the WCTA Pro-Life Club up and running as soon as possible.”
Clark told Fox and Friends that the lawsuit was submitted a couple days ago and she is still waiting on a reply from the administration.
