Preliminary Injunction Permits Student To Distribute Religious Flyers

In K.A. v. Pocono Mountain School District, (MD PA, Oct. 20, 2011), a Pennsylvania federal district court issued a preliminary injunction permitting an elementary school student to hand out non-school related religious flyers.  The suit was filed after school officials barred the student from handing out invitations to a Christmas party at her church.  The court said that where, as here, student speech is involved, analysis should focus on the "disruption" test developed in the Tinker case, and not an analysis of whether a school is a nonpublic forum. The North County Gazette reports on the opinion. (See prior related posting.)