Mayor orders man removed after he didn't stand for Pledge of Allegiance

[Ms. Toad]

79. The mayor is the one who took the action -

As an executive officer, the First Amendment applies to actions he takes in his official capacity, whether he is enforcing a local law or his own whims.

The Supreme Court cases I cited are binding on ALL lower courts, including the Magisterial District Court level. It would not have crossed my mind (or that of any competent attorney) to provide you with local cases when there are Supreme Court cases on point. Local courts are subservient to those above them, and they are required to follow the precedent set by the higher courts. If they refuse to do their job (laughing the case out of court, for example), the party who has been wronged always has the right to appeal to a higher court, including - ultimately - to the Supreme Court of the United States. Not to mention that if I were handling the case, I would file it in the Federal District Court, since it is purely a Federal constitutional question. Local courts often don't handle constitutional questions well, and most First Amendment cases are filed in Federal District courts for that reason. If it was important enough to take to court I wouldn't waste my client's time and money in the state court system.

The analysis I've outlined is pretty well settled law. Neither of the decisions in the cases below depend on which state actor is involved (or whether the act came as a statute or, as here, a requirement imposed by a state actor). But it is worth noting that even in an educational setting, where those in charge have MORE leeway, individuals cannot be compelled to recite the pledge of allegiance,

“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”

— Justice Robert Jackson in West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)

And, in Federal Appellate decision (which was not appealed further to the Supreme Court), regarding a student who refused to stand during the pledge of allegiance:

In the words of Judge Meanor: "I find this statute to be severable, that is, the portion thereof attacked as unconstitutional may rationally be severed from the remainder of the statute. * * * This mandatory condition upon the student's right not to participate in the flag salute ceremony is an unconstitutional requirement that the student engage in a form of speech and may not be enforced. The unconstitutionality of this severable portion of the statute is declared at this time." We concur.

Lipp v. Morris

Your condescending comments to the poster whose position I started defending were out of line.