School Prior Approval Policy For Handouts Upheld Over Objections of Religious Group

In Taylor v. Roswell Independent School District, (D NM, Nov. 23, 2011), a New Mexico federal magistrate judge dismissed 1st Amendment and equal protection claims brought by high school students who were members of a religious group, Relentless in Roswell. The students sued after they were stopped from distributing rubber fetus figurines with a passage from Psalms and contact information for a pregnancy resource center attached to them. School officials took the action because a previous similar distribution caused substantial disruption. The court upheld a school policy requiring prior approval for students to distribute non-school related material on school grounds, even though members of Relentless in Roswell had a history of handing out many  kinds of items-- including candy canes, wrist bands and Easter eggs, many with religious messages attached-- generally without seeking school permission.  None of these however created disruption in the schools. (See prior related posting.)