Mississippi Children Punished For Saying Obama's Name

Well, its official now. The state of Mississippi joined most of the rest of the country in exceeding our previous voter turnout record. Roughly 1.2 million Mississippians cast their vote on November 4. Good for us! It was no surprise that McCain won the state easily, but the turnout suggests that many in our state considered this an important election and were willing to do their civic duty. That is encouraging. Less encouraging are the reports surfacing that it is not safe to mention Obama's name after the election.

According to WAPT News, two employees at Pearl Junior High threatened students in separate incidents for merely saying Obama's name. First, two boys were kicked off a school bus for commenting that Sen. Obama had won the election. Next, a girl's basketball coach told students that they would be suspended for saying Obama's name.

The employees have been disciplined, but the school refuses to specify how. Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable.

The ACLU of Mississippi reported that they have received multiple complaints from around the state by parents and students reporting alleged violations of students’ free speech.

Tags: Mississippi, voter turnout, McCain, Obama, WAPT News, Pearl Junior High, ACLU, free speech