steirervbethlehem

Steirer ex rel. Steirer v. Bethlehem Area School District
987 F.2d 986 (3rd Cir.1993)


 * Facts:**

Defendant Bethlehem Area School District officials required students to perform 60 hours of unpaid services to approved community organizations in order to be allowed to graduate.

Plaintiff Lynn Ann Streirer (another student and their parents) believed their 1st and 13th amendment rights were being violated and asked federal court to force the district to eliminate the program.


 * Issues/Answers:**

1. Does required community service violate the First Amendment by requiring students to go against their personal belief that community service should be voluntary? No.

2. Does the required community service violate the Thirteenth Amendment because students are being forced to labor for no compensation which they called slavery? No.


 * Basis/Rationale:**

Participating in community service is not expressing a belief in its value and therefore the students' First Amendment rights were not being violated.

Not all labor performed to avoid legal sanctions can be considered involuntary servitude mentioned in the Thirteenth Amendment. The Amendment was never intended to prevent states from compelling the performance of civic duties; therefore the community service requirement is not a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.


 * Notes:**

1. Students could choose from a list of some 70 community organizations or develop their own "experiential situation." 2. Students had to write a final paper evaluating their service experience. Those who failed or refused to comply could not graduate. 3. Citizens Against Mandatory Service (CAMS) was formed to fight the school boards decision in 1990 to make sixty hour of community service a graduation requirement. 4. CAMS believed the decision was moral dictatorship and the organization's members vowed to fight it in every way they could. 5. A valedictorian was denied a diploma in June 1997 when the Bethlehem Area School Board denied a diploma to valedictorian Kathie Moralis.