Sticking to her Laptop

A student of Sacred Heart high school in Greenwich, Connecticut hasdrawn national attention recently for taking a stand against her Catholic High School. Kate Murray, a current sophomore at the institution, has been informed by the administration that she may not be allowed to return for her junior year at the school. Her crime against the institution: a sticker that read “I Stand With Planned Parenthood” on the back of her laptop. While it is no secret that a Catholic school (such as Sacred Heart) may not look too fondly upon Murray’s decision to promote abortion practices openly during school, there has been a movement on social media arguing that the school went too far by not allowing her to reenroll for something seeming so insignificant. Following the school’s decision to not extend an offer of enrollment for the ensuing year, a petition entitled “I Stand with Kate Murray” has been started online and has amassed over 1,500 signatures from individuals who believe that the school violated Kate Murray’s right to freely express her beliefs on the issue and that although Sacred Heart may be a private institution this was still over the line. Furthermore, many are offering the argument that to focus upon the aspect of abortion regarding Planned Parenthood is simply too narrow to reasonably consider all of the other factors that come into play. While the school may only be concerned with the fact that Planned Parenthood normally deals with issues regarding abortions, they also provide numerous other healthcare services to women such as pregnancy services, cancer screenings and mental health counseling. This case was outlined to the officials of the school through an alumni and family friend of the Murrays, Stephanie Viola, who demanded that Kate Murray be treated fairly regarding the situation. Then, when questioned about the actions taken by the school unto her daughter, Brian Murray commented “it is a really small sticker that does not seem to be able to cause that much damage to anybody.” In response to all the coverage occurring at the school, the head of the school Pamela Hayes stated that to encourage open discussion and dialogue throughout the school, the school must “discourage the displays of slogans and bumper stickers” for they can “have the unintended consequence of stifling open debate.”

            The main issue regarding this specific topic is the argument regarding the school overstepping its boundaries and stifling the freedom of speech of Kate Murray. The underlying issue regarding the religious aspect of the speech was extremely interesting and pertinent to the issue at hand. Thus the question must be raised regarding whether or not the sticker would have been perceived as offensive in a public school. Additionally, it must be questioned whether or not the school overstepped its boundaries especially when considering the fact Planned Parenthood does so much more other than provide abortions. Thus the argument can be made that Kate Murray’s freedom of expression regarding her religious beliefs could have been infringed upon by the school. The argument can also be made that stickers don’t fall under the protection of the freedom of speech clause because of the lack of clarity within the wording of the constitution. To cite the specific wording, the amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law…or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech.” Although it may appear as though the amendment covers the freedom of speech over all people, because congress is issuing the amendment regarding private institutions as Sacred Heart is. Additionally, the school is further protected under the ruling of Rendell-Baker v. Kohn in 1982, which determined that actions such as this one taken by a private institution require students and parents to enter into a contract in which their basic freedoms of speech are taken away.

I strongly disagree with the inability for the Murray’s to take action regarding this situation as Kate Murray had her basic rights of freedom of speech heavily infringed upon. Although the Murrays may have signed into a contract in which their daughter’s right of freedom of speech was heavily reduced the fact that she had action taken against her from the school regarding her ability to reenroll in the school for her junior year. Although Planned Parenthood provides abortions to their respective communities, the school must think more broadly about the issue and the other ways in which Planned Parenthood impacts those around them. Furthermore, the fact that the sticker did not outline any statements that directly went against the Catholic faith and Sacred Heart as an institution then there was no reason to deny Kate Murray enrollment for the following year.  Finally, I believe that for something as insignificantly small as a sticker the punishment was significantly overboard for the impact of the crime.