PROTESTS/TEXAS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Long before President Trump escalated the debate over protests during the national anthem, two Texas teenagers began challenging injustice in their own way, by sitting through the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Now, they are separately suing their schools, saying that teachers and administrators shamed or punished them for their protests, violating their constitutional rights. The students, both in the Houston area, said they had received especially harsh treatment in recent months.
One school district denied the claims, and the other said it would not comment on any potential litigation.
‘It just seems that there is something in the air,’ said Randall Kallinen, a civil rights lawyer in Houston who is representing the students, who are both 17.
The president may have played a role. Last month, Mr. Trump ignited a heated national debate over the decision by some N.F.L. players to kneel during the national anthem protest against racial injustice.
Like those athletes, the Texas students, India Landry and another teenager, identified only by her initials, M.O., said their protests stemmed from a sense that the nation had failed to uphold the promise of the pledge.”
-Niraj Chokshi, “2 Texas Students Sue Schools to Freely Protest the Pledge,” The New York Times online, Oct. 30, 2017