No Immunity For Principal In Recess Bible Reading Case

L.W. v. Knox County Board of Education, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64138 (ED TN, Sept. 6, 2006), is a suit by a Christian 5th grade student at Karns Elementary School in Knox County, Tennessee, challenging the school's policy that precludes him from informally reading and discussing the Bible with fellow students during recess. The suit alleges violations of the student's First Amendment rights. In response, the principal of Karns Elementary School filed a $3 million counterclaim alleging libel and slander. In this opinion, a federal district judge dismissed the principal's counterclaim on jurisdictional grounds and held that the principal did not have qualified immunity in the student's lawsuit against her. The school claims that the denial of the student's rights came from a misunderstanding about the kind of Bible study that was being proposed. (See prior posting.) The court found that "L.W.'s right to read and discuss the Bible at recess with his friends is a clearly established right under the First Amendment."