Oklahoma School District Drops Plans For Bible Course

Religion News Service reported last week that the Mustang, Oklahoma School District has dropped its plans to offer a Bible course using materials developed by the Museum of the Bible-- an organization funded by Hobby Lobby president Steve Green.  Critics of the Bible curriculum say it adopts the conservative Christian belief that the Bible is inerrant. The school district says it dropped plans for the course when the district was not able to review the final curriculum, and did not receive a commitment from the course developers to provide legal coverage to the district if it is sued over the course.

High Schooler Sues After He Is Suspended For Proselytizing

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports on a federal lawsuit filed this week on behalf of an Everett, Washington high school student who was suspended three times for handing out Christian religious tracts at school and preaching to students using an amplifying device at a school-sponsored extracurricular event. Student Michael Leal claims religious discrimination. The school says that it took action because of the disruptive nature of the Leal's activity. Pacific Justice Institute announced the filing of the lawsuit.

6th Circuit Hears Oral Arguments In Child Evangelism Fellowship Case

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday heard oral arguments (audio of full arguments) in Child Evangelism Fellowship v. Cleveland Metropolitan School District. At issue is the claim by Child Evangelism Fellowship that they were denied a fee waiver for use of school space, while a waiver (or in-kind arrangement) was granted to others. The federal district court for the Northern District of Ohio held in its Feb. 24, 2014 denial of a preliminary injunction (full text of decision): "Plaintiff cannot demonstrate that Defendant has a fee-waiver policy, and therefore cannot demonstrate Defendant operates such a policy in a discriminatory manner."

Florida School District Proposing To Ban Distribution of All Religious Material

The Orange County, Florida Public Schools are giving up on their passive distribution policy that originally allowed Bibles to be distributed by World Changers in high schools, but then led to litigation over material critical of the Bible that Freedom From Religion Foundation sought to distribute. That was followed by a request from a New York-based Satanic Temple to distribute its materials under the school district's limited public forum policy. According to yesterday's Christian Post, the Florida school district is now proposing a rule change that will prohibit distribution of materials of a denominational, sectarian, religious, political or partisan nature. Pending requests to distribute material will be put on hold while the rule change is under consideration. Commenting on the proposal, school board chairman Bill Sublette said that the situation has gotten out of hand. "I think we've seen a group or groups take advantage of the open forum we've had," he said.

UPDATE: The Board adopted the proposed ban bya 7-1 vote on Feb. 10, 2015. (Orlando Sentinel).

Suit Challenges Ban On Prayer Group During High School Free Period

A Christian high school student filed suit last week against a Colorado Springs high school claiming that his 1st and 14th Amendment rights were infringed by a school policy that allowed students to congregate informally for a variety of activities during certain home room periods, but barred students meeting for purposes of prayer, religious songs and religious discussion.  Religious activities were allowed only before and after school.  The complaint (full text) in Windebank v. Academy School District #20, (D CO, filed 11/7/2014), seeks an injunction, attorneys' fees and nominal damages.  An ADF press release announced the filing of the lawsuit.

Belgium's Top Administrative Court Invalidates School Bans On Religious Headwear

Strasbourg Observers blog reported yesterday on two Oct. 14 decisions by Belgium's Council of State (its highest administrative court) invalidating school regulations that banned students from wearing religious headwear or other religious insignia. The bans at issue were imposed by the Flemish Community Education Board. One of the cases decided by the court involved a Sikh turban or patka and the other involved a Muslim headscarf-- the main target of the regulations. The Court held:

Taking into account the proportionality requirement, a justification is all the more necessary as the litigious ban might lead to a denial of access to education for students for the sole reason that they exercise a fundamental right, without it being adequately demonstrated that they disrupt the public order or endanger the rights and freedoms of others.

The full text of the decisions (Case 228.751 and Case 228.752 ) are available in Dutch. [Thanks to Paul deMello for the lead].

Kazakhstan Court Upholds Elementary School's Ban On Muslim Headscarf For 6-Year Old

In the central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, where 70% of the population is Muslim, a court has upheld a school's refusal to allow a 6-year old girl to wear a headscarf that her family believes is religiously required.  According to Tengri News yesterday, the Burlin District Court of West Kazakhstan Oblast rejected claims by the girl's father that she was being denied her constitutionally protected right to education on the basis of religion. The father believes that Sharia law requires Muslim women to cover their head, regardless of their age.

Suit Says Schools Promoted Christian Activities

The American Humanist Association and several parents of school children filed suit this week against the Douglas County, Colorado school district and its officials over the schools' alleged endorsement of Christian religious organizations.  The complaint (full text) in  American Humanist Association, Inc. v. Douglas County School District RE-1, (D CO, filed 10/22/2014), contends that by extensively promoting Operation Christmas Child and two mission trips, the school district has violated the Establishment Clause and the Equal Access Act.  Huffington Post reports on the lawsuit.

Settlement Reached In School's Ban of Religious Valentines

Alliance Defending Freedom this week announced a settlement leading to a voluntary dismissal in J.S. v. Nazareth Area School District, (ED PA, Oct. 22, 2014). The suit challenged a Pennsylvania elementary school's refusal to allow a student to hand out Valentine cards containing a religious message. (See prior posting.) In the settlement, the school district has removed language from its policies that prohibited student expression seeking to establish the supremacy of a particular religious view or denomination. The Morning Call reporting on the settlement quotes a school board attorney who says that even under the revised policy the particular Valentine message at issue here may have not been permitted because its discussion of St. Valentine's martyrdom may have been too adult a topic.

Sukkah At High School Rejected After Other Jewish Students Raise Church-State Complaints

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Sunday on a new permutation in the battle over religious symbols in public schools. Last year, Jewish students at Glendale's Nicolet High School put up a temporary sukkah in the school's courtyard to mark the Jewish fall harvest festival of Sukkot.  This year the activity was moved to a private home nearby after other Jewish students, through the Milwaukee Jewish Community Relations Council, complained that the sukkah on school grounds would violate principles of church-state separation.

Today Is 2014 "See You At the Pole" Prayer Event

Today is the date for this year's annual Christian-sponsored "See You At The Pole" event at schools around the country and beyond.  According to the SYATP website:

See You at the Pole™ is simply a prayer rally where students meet at the school flagpole before school to lift up their friends, families, teachers, school, and nation to God. See You at the Pole™ is a student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led event.

This year's theme is a verse from Ephesians 6:18: "Never Stop Praying, Especially for Others."  Organizers claim that over 3 million students in 20 countries participate in the event.  Alliance Defending Freedom has distributed a Legal Memo on "Student Rights to Participate In and Promote See You at the Pole."

European Court Says Turkey Should Offer Alevis Exemption From Compulsory Religion and Ethics Courses

In Mansur Yalçın and Others v. Turkey, (ECHR, Sept. 16, 2014) (full text of opinion in French), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment held that Turkish schools have not made sufficient chagnes in required religion and ethics classes to accommodate Alevis.  As summarized in the Court's English language press release:

The fact that the curriculum of the religion and ethics classes gave greater prominence to Islam as practised and interpreted by the majority of the Turkish population than to other minority interpretations of Islam could not in itself be viewed as a departure from the principles of pluralism and objectivity which would amount to indoctrination. However, bearing in mind the particular features of the Alevi faith as compared with the Sunni understanding of Islam, the applicants could legitimately have considered that the approach adopted in the classes was likely to cause their children to face a conflict of allegiance between the school and their own values.

The Court failed to see how such a conflict could be avoided in the absence of an appropriateexemption procedure. The discrepancies complained of by the applicants between the approach adopted in the curriculum and the particular features of their faith as compared with the Sunni understanding of Islam were so great that they would scarcely be alleviated by the mere inclusion in textbooks of information about Alevi beliefs and practice.

A Chamber Judgment may be appealed to the Grand Chamber of the Court.

Satanic Temple Will Seek To Hand Out Its Literature In Florida High Schools

As previously reported, once Orange County, Florida high schools allowed World Changers to distribute Bibles it had essentially created a limited public forum and felt compelled to allow Freedom From Religion Foundation to distribute at least some literature.  Now the next shoe is about to drop. Yesterday's Orlando Sentinel reports that a New York-based group, The Satanic Temple, plans to ask Orange County to allow it to hand out it literature to students so at least they will be exposed to a variety of religious opinions.  In particular it wants to hand out "The Satanic Children's Big Book of Activities" which, it says, gives students information on protecting themselves from corporal punishment at school. The Satanic Temple supports social justice causes and sees Satan as the "eternal rebel against the ultimate tyrant."

New "Candy-Cane" Religious Message Case Filed

In what may be a reprise of nearly a decade of litigation out of Texas, a new "candy-cane" case has hit the courts, this time in California. The San Bernadino County Sun reported yesterday that Alex and Myrna Martinez, parents of a first grader (Isaiah), have filed a lawsuit against the West Covina Unified School district alleging that a Merced Elementary School teacher refused to allow their son to distribute Christmas candy canes with a story about Jesus attached. Allegedly the teacher tore the messages off the candy before allowing the student to distribute them, saying that Jesus is not allowed in school. The complaint claims that other students were allowed to distribute Christmas gifts. The school board says that the candy canes were being distributed during instructional time, which is prohibited by school rules. Advocates for Faith and Freedom, which sent a demand letter (full text) to school officials on behalf of the student, has posted more about the case. School board president Steve Cox says he is concerned that the district is being "set up" as a test case.

Another Controversy Over Religious Symbols and Public Schools

Two elementary schools in Midlothian, Texas are the latest focus of controversy over religious symbols on public property. As reported by today by Courthouse News Service, the plaques, featuring two crosses, read: "Dedicated in the Year of Our Lord 1997 to the Education of God's Children and to their Faithful Teachers in the Name of the Holy Christian Church." Freedom From Religion Foundation complained about the plaques two months ago. The Dallas Observer yesterday reported on what happened next:

The district, advised by its attorneys that it would lose any lawsuit regarding the plaques, covered them with duct tape and prepared for their being replaced as the new school year began. Wednesday, the district posted a notice on its website that the plaques had been uncovered, but the district was "unsure who uncovered them" and had "no plans to recover them."

Meanwhile each side is marshalling its arguments. FFRF says:

Public schools may not advance, prefer, or promote religion. The plaque on the front of Mt. Peak Elementary violates this basic constitutional prohibition by creating the appearance that the school, and by extension the district, prefer religion to nonreligion and Christianity to all other religions.

Liberty Institute responds:

Our preliminary investigation of the Midlothian plaque issue leads us to believe the school district created a limited public forum for plaques relating to the topic of the building dedication.  The plaque at issue is thus private speech and the First Amendment prohibits the government from censoring private speech simply because of its religious viewpoint.

And media headlines fan the controversy, such as this one from Christian News: "Texas School District Duct Tapes Over Plaques Glorifying God Following Atheist Complaint."

NYC Pre-Kindergarten Funding Requires Religious Schools To Draw Fine Church-State Lines

The New York Times reported Monday on the fine church-state lines being drawn by religious schools hosting Mayor de Blasio's government-funded pre-kindergarten programs. Brief guidelines issued to the schools allow the teaching of culture, but not religion. Religious texts may be presented objectively as part of a secular program of instruction.  The Times describes the accommodation reached by some schools:

The biblical story of Noah’s Ark will be taught, without mention of who told Noah to build it. Challah, the Jewish bread eaten on the Sabbath, will be baked, but no blessings said over it. Some crucifixes will be removed, but others left hanging.

(See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Challenge To School's Policy On Distributing Materials Dismissed As Moot

In Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Orange County School Board, (MD FL, July 3, 2014), a Florida federal district court dismissed as moot a complaint (see prior posting) that the Orange County, Florida school board refused to allow plaintiffs to distribute certain material critical of the Bible and religion under the school's limited public forum policy.  Subsequently the school board reversed its decision and allowed plaintiffs to distribute the disputed material; however plaintiffs failed to avail themselves of the opportunity to do so. Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Ohio Enacts Released Time Program, Effective In September

This weekend, the Cleveland Plain Dealer carried op-ed columns supporting and opposing Ohio House Bill 171 (full text) which was signed into law by the governor last month. (Legis. status report.) The law, which will go into effect in September, allows school districts to approve "released time" programs during which students can be excused from school to attend a program of religious instruction elsewhere. High school students can earn up to two units of course credit for participation in a released time offering.  No public funds or school personnel may be used in the religious instruction.

Christian Teacher Loses Suit Challenging Required Removal of Religious Postings In Classroom

In Silver v. Cheektowage Central School District, (WD NY, June 24, 2014), a New York federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing most of the discrimination claims brought by a Christian high school science teacher who was required to take down from her classroom her display of several Bible verses, other statements about God and a picture of three crosses on a hill. She was also told to prevent guest speakers from promoting religion.  The court rejected teacher Joelle Silver's Establishment Clause and free speech claims and most of her equal protection claims, saying that the school has authority to take action to avoid litigation claiming Establishment Clause violations.  The court also characterized as "inapposite" the teacher's comparison of her displays to those by the school social worker that were designed to create a welcoming environment for LGBT students. The court however recommended permitting plaintiff to proceed with a claim that school policies relating to her role as advisor to the student Bible Study Club were selectively enforced. News 4 reports on the decision. American Freedom Law Center issued a press release announcing the decision.

Australia's Top Court Invalidates Federal Spending For School Chaplaincy Programs

In Williams v. Commonwealth of Australia, (High Ct. of Australia, June 19, 2014), Australia's highest court held that Australia's Parliament exceeded the powers given to the national government when it provided funds for chaplaincy services in public schools run by the states. The suit was brought by an atheist parent who objected to his son learning gospel songs in school.  AP reports on the decision, suggesting that the chaplaincy program could be constitutionally funded by providing grants to the states for the program. It quotes Sydney University constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey:

They could have always done this stuff through the states under grants; they chose to do these things by direct methods and one of the reasons they did that in the past was to get directly the political kudos that come from it.... The chaplaincy program was all about getting direct political support from religious lobby groups....

A Court press release also summarizes the decision. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]