Laurence Reisman

larry.reisman@tcpalm.com

Most of us know yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater is not protected free speech under our rights guaranteed in the Constitution’s First Amendment.

But what about these words uttered during a satirical, impromptu campaign speech: “(My opponent) wants to advance communist ideas”?

It turns out, based on what happened to J.P. Krause, a candidate for senior class president, he doesn’t have a right to free speech. At least not at Vero Beach High School.

In Advanced Placement U.S. History class a day before the April 28 election, Krause’s classmates started a “speech, speech, speech” chant for their popular classmate after someone mentioned he was running. Krause, now the junior class vice president, headed to a podium in the front of class and delivered a 90-second stump speech he will never forget.

It was hyperbole aimed at one of two opponents he said he's been friendly with since grade school.

But the speech wasn’t funny to everyone. At least not to school administration, which saw a video of it posted on a social media account.

On the school's election day, Krause, in Wheeling, West Virginia, for the National Academic Games, got wind he might be in trouble and penned an apology to his history teacher. That weekend, Krause finished 10th in the nation in current events. He and senior teammates Ben Tardif, Wes Alexander, Zachary Wright and Gavin D’Elia finished third as a team.

But on May 1, three days after the election, Krause learned administrators had disqualified him from the race and given him two hours of detention.

“ … It was my determination after viewing the video that the attempted humor was at the expense of another student,” Principal Shawn O’Keefe said in a May 2 email to Krause’s mother, Angela. “ … Our finding was that the insulting language used in his speech was of a nature that created a situation of public humiliation and therefore violated school district rules pertaining to harassment.”

O’Keefe said the “insults” in the speech “had the effect of substantially interfering with the student’s educational opportunity with regard, in this case to the election.”

Is this a case of competing rights? I’ve always been taught and believed the five freedoms contained in the First Amendment always were most important; it was the first change to the Constitution.

We might not like what candidates, from class president to U.S. president, say, but they should have the freedom to hang themselves with their words. If people didn’t like what Krause said, or if he didn’t show the qualities they sought in a leader, they could have voted for someone else.

In his speech, Krause sounded less like a student council candidate and more like a “Saturday Night Live” writer mocking Donald Trump. With every outrageous statement he got giggles and laughs. Among the ridiculous things Krause said:

His opponent would raise taxes on students by 80 percent (students pay no taxes).

His opponent represented Sebastian River High School. Krause proposed building a wall between the schools and making Sebastian River pay for it.

D’Elia, class of 2017 president and Krause’s academic games teammate, was surprised by the school’s reaction.

“It was very tongue-in-cheek,” D’Elia said. “J.P. doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

Krause said the decision to disqualify him hurt far more than the detention.

“The election meant a lot to me,” Krause said, adding he didn’t think his “lighthearted” speech was a big deal. “It was obviously a big joke.”

But the joke was on him. He said he never had a chance to present a defense of his comments to the administration.

O’Keefe would only say school officials did not know results of the election "throughout the process and decision rendering." The Indian River County School District declined to release documents on the matter, claiming they are privileged student records.

Several students at the school, including D’Elia and Krause, said the opponent he roasted was disqualified, too. School officials wouldn't comment. Thus, the only other remaining candidate won by default.

Who should have won the election? The district refused to release voting results. The good news is Leslie Swan, Indian River County’s elections supervisor, whose office helps schools run elections, consistently abides by public records law.

Krause easily gathered the most votes in the election, carrying 49.2 percent of the 325 votes cast. Next year’s official senior class president finished third, with 23.4 percent.

The irony is Krause was disqualified for remarks he made in an American history class, where the First Amendment and elections are integral parts of the curriculum. And the decision to boot him was made while he was helping his school gain national attention for his knowledge of current events, the presidency, Civil War and propaganda.

I asked Krause, whom I knew as a shy pre-teen several years ago when I briefly coached his soccer team, what he learned from this experience.

“Life isn’t fair,” he said. “Watch your back; watch what you’re going to say to people.”

It was a harsh lesson taught by administrators with a tough job of trying to keep things civil in a potentially incendiary world of secondary education. But before they punish people for speaking freely, especially in a political environment, they ought to remember many things we say might offend someone.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.