Graduation Speakers

[Eugene Volokh]

Mark Rahdert writes:

>         I share the views of many discussion participants who have stated
> that religious content in a graduation speech is insufficient by itself to
> create an EC violation.  But I think it ought to be equally clear that a
> neutral selection process is insufficient by itself to immunize a speech
> with religious content from an as applied EC challenge.

    This latter point isn't actually quite clear to me.  I have, of
course, learned to be careful about making categorical statements --
I suspect that Mark is right that there are at least *some*
circumstances we can imagine in which a genuinely neutral selection
process will yield an Estab Cl violation.  (For instance, imagine
a genuinely neutrally selected speaker who then, of his own
volition, invites the principal to lead a prayer; I suppose this
might be an Estab Cl violation.)  But much depends on what these
circumstances are.  Mark, can you give us some examples?

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Eugene Volokh, UCLA Law School, (310) 206-3926  fax -7010
               405 Hilgard Ave., L.A., CA 90095