Suit Challenges Ban on Student's Distribution of Church Christmas Party Flyer

Last week, a federal court lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Cresco, Pennsylvania 5th grader who was barred by her school's principal from handing out to fellow students flyers inviting them to a Christmas party sponsored by her church.  The complaint (full text) in K.A. v. Pocono Mountain School District, (MD PA, filed 3/4/2011), alleges that plaintiff's 1st and 14th Amendment rights, as well as her rights under Pennsylvania's Religious Freedom Protection Act, were violated by rules that require school approval of materials from special interest groups and bar student speech that seeks to establish the supremacy of a particular religious denomination or point of view.  The suit alleges that the school has imposed a content-based restriction on the student since school district policies permit other students to distribute literature and invitations during non-instructional time and permit community groups to distribute flyers through a take-home flyer forum and a literature distribution table. It also alleges violation of the student's free exercise rights, vagueness and overbreadth of the school policies and establishment clause and equal protection violations. Alliance Defense Fund issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.