Consent Decree Bars Louisiana School District's Promotion of Religion

The ACLU announced on Friday the entry of a consent decree (full text) in Lane v. Sabine Parish School Board, (WD LA, March 14, 2014), enjoining the blatant promotion of Christianity (and harassment of a Buddhist student) that had been taking place in the Negreet, Louisiana schools. (See prior posting.) The detailed 11-page decree decree enjoins school officials from promoting prayer at school events, funding or sponsoring religious services, holding school events at religious venues when other locations are available, promoting personal religious beliefs to students in school or at school events, denigrating a particular religious faith or singling a student out for criticism because of his or her religious beliefs. It also puts strict limits on the distribution of material in schools by outside groups.