Professor Loses On Claim of Retaliation For Religious Speech Aimed At Students

In Payne v. University of South Mississippi, (SD MI, Feb. 21, 2014), a Mississippi federal district court held that the 1st Amendment does not preclude a faculty member at a public university being disciplined for religious speech made as part of his duties as a professor. According to the court:

A graduate student employed in a program administered by Plaintiff ... complained: “Sometimes during conversations with Dr. Payne, religion or Bible verses are usually brought up by him in some way. This makes me and others very uncomfortable. . . . While in Scotland with CJA staff, Dr. Payne made the statement that anyone who is not a Christian is going to hell.” She continued: “I have been told to go pray about certain issues when they are being discussed with Dr. Payne numerous times. . . . I do not feel comfortable when told to go pray from my supervisor instead of dealing with the situation.”

The court dismissed plaintiff's 1st Amendment retaliation claim.

Texas State Board of Education Amends Textbook Review Rules To Lessen Influence of Social Conservatives

AP reports that on Friday, the 15-member Texas State Board of Education unanimously adopted new rules governing the citizen review panels that review proposed textbooks.  The rule changes are likely to lessen the influence of social conservatives who in recent years have influenced the coverage of topics such as evolution, climate change and the role of religion in American history.  The new rules give priority to teachers and professors to serve on the textbook review panels in their areas of expertise. They also allow the state board to appoint outside experts to check the objections raised by review panels. The new rules require that each textbook be reviewed by at least two panel members, require panels to submit majority and minority reports, and limit board of education contact with panel members to prevent pressure on panels. Earlier this week the board defeated a proposal that would have allowed removal of review panel members for inappropriate behavior. Conservative State Board of Education member David Bradley complained: "liberals are really trying to make it difficult for Christians and conservatives to have a voice in public education."

Ohio Supreme Court Over 3 Dissents Refuses To Reconsider Science Teacher's Firing

In November, the Ohio Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, upheld the firing of middle school science teacher John Freshwater for insubordination in failing to comply with orders to remove religious materials from his classroom. (See prior posting.) On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court denied a motion for reconsideration, but the same 3 justices who dissented originally also dissented from the refusal to reconsider. In Freshwater v. Mt. Vernon School District Board of Education, (OH Sup. Ct., Jan. 22, 2014), Justice O'Donnell filed a dissenting  opinion (joined by Justices Pfeifer and Kennedy) saying: "This case now stands as a basis for school boards to violate the constitutional rights of veteran teachers and to terminate them for insignificant reasons."

Suit Challenges Blatant Promotion of Christianity In Louisiana School

The ACLU of Louisiana announced yesterday that it has filed a federal lawsuit against a western Louisiana parish school board on behalf of a married couple and their children/ stepchildren alleging that blatant promotion of Christianity by a Negreet (LA) school violates the Establishment Clause.  One of the plaintiffs, the mother, has been a practicing Buddhist for 14 years and the lawsuit focuses particularly on harassment by the school of her 6th-grade son who is of Thai descent and a life-long Buddhist. The complaint (full text) in Lane v. Sabine Parish School Board, (WD LA, filed 1/22/2014) alleges in part:

[S]chool officials have a longstanding ... practice of promoting and inculcating Christian beliefs by sponsoring religious activities, as well as conveying religious messages to students.... [A]t Negreet, which serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, teachers ask students for professions of faith in class. At least one science teacher treats the Bible as scientific fact, telling students that the Big Bang never happened and that evolution is a “stupid” theory that “stupid people made up because they don’t want to believe in God.” Paintings of Jesus Christ, Bible verses, and Christian devotional phrases adorn the walls of many classrooms and hallways.... And staff members routinely lead students in Christian prayer....

[W]hen ... C.C..... enrolled in the sixth grade ..., he quickly became the target of proselytizing and harassment by one of his teachers ... who ... told her students that [C.C.'s] faith, Buddhism, is “stupid.”

[When C.C.'s parents complained] ... the Sabine Parish Superintendent of Schools ... told the Lanes that “[t]his is the Bible Belt” and that they would simply have to accept that teachers would proselytize students. She also asked whether C.C. had to be raised as a Buddhist and whether he could “change” his faith, and she suggested that C.C. transfer to another district school – more than 25 miles away where, in her words, “there are more Asians.”

In addition to filing suit, the ACLU plans to file complaints with the Department of Education and Department of Justice.

Florida Counties' Schools Allow Bible Distribution For Religious Freedom Day

In Orange and Collier counties in Florida yesterday, public schools marked Religious Freedom Day by allowing the the Florida Family Policy Council and World Changers of Florida to distribute Bibles to high school students under the schools' policy on outside distribution of materials.  The Orlando Sentinel reports that softcover and hardcover New International Version Bibles were placed by volunteers on unmanned tables in accessible locations where students could pick them up. A lawsuit by the Central Florida Freethought Community was filed last year when Orange County school officials only permitted the group to make some of its literature available for students. (See prior related posting.)

Texas Group Promotes Acnowledgement of Christmas In Public Schools

Today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports on the Merry Christmas Texas project launched by the non-profit group Texas Values. Building on the so-called Merry Christmas Law passed by the Texas legislature earlier this year (see prior posting), the project is billed as "a state-wide effort to educate and protect the acknowledgement of Christmas in public schools and ensure the religious liberty of children, parents, teachers, and school administrators." It includes radio ads in the four largest media markets in the state, and a fact sheet on the new law.

Mississippi School District Adopts New Policy To Settle Establishment Clause Suit

A judgment agreed to by the parties (full text) was entered last week in M.B. v. Rankin County School District, (SD MS, 11/22/2013). In the case, brought in federal court in Mississippi on behalf of a high school student, it was alleged that the district high school sponsored assemblies that promoted Christianity, and which students perceived as being mandatory. (See prior posting.) In settling the case, the school district adopted a new policy on religion in the schools and agreed to comply with it to avoid future Establishment Clause violations. The school district also agreed to pay $15,000 for plaintiffs' attorney fees. The American Humanist Association issued a press release announcing the settlement.

Split Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Firing Of Science Teacher For Refusing To Remove Religious Materials

In a 4-3 decision today, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the firing of middle school science teacher John Freshwater for insubordination in failing to comply with orders to remove religious materials from his classroom.  In Freshwater v. Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education, (OH Sup. Ct., Nov. 19, 2013), Chief Justice O'Connor in an opinion joined by Justices French and O'Neill held that the school improperly ordered Freshwater to remove his personal Bible from his desk. The order infringed Freshwater's free exercise rights; the Bible posed no threat of an Establishment Clause violation because Freshwater did not use it while teaching.  However, Freshwater was properly removed for insubordination in failing to comply with orders to remove other religious materials from his classroom.  The Chief Justice added:

Accordingly, based on our  resolution of this threshold issue, we need not reach the constitutional issue of  whether Freshwater impermissibly imposed his religious beliefs in his classroom.

Justice Lanzinger wrote a separate opinion joining only the court's syllabus in the case, saying:

I would hold that the school district’s order that John Freshwater put away his personal Bible while students were present was a reasonable and valid attempt to avoid an Establishment Clause violation. That order did not infringe on Freshwater’s free speech rights, for he was not required to remove the Bible from the classroom—merely putting the book into a desk drawer during class time would have sufficed.

Justice Pfeifer, in a rather blistering dissent, argued that the core of the insubordination charges against Freshwater involved his refusal to remove his personal Bible. Pfeifer agreed with the lead opinion that the order to remove it was improper but disagreed on the handling of the remaining insubordination charges:

With the insubordination claim gutted, the lead opinion should have moved on to consider the constitutional issues remaining in the case. Instead, the majority walks away from the opportunity to provide helpful guidance....

Thus concludes the sorry saga of John Freshwater, excellent junior-high science teacher, terminated as a result of an extreme overreaction of the parents of a decent student, followed by even less informed and measured responses by Mount Vernon school administrators and the school board.... [T]hey have managed to divide a really nice community and cost the school board and/or its insurance providers well over a million dollars to free itself of a very good teacher. And the people they did it for left town. 

There is a clear set of winners today: the lawyers.... They have told themselves that they are participating in the evolved version of the Scopes trial, when in reality they have created a modern Jarndyce and Jarndyce.... 

This court accepted jurisdiction in this case presumably to speak to the important issues of the Establishment Clause, academic freedom, and how schools may approach educating children about the scientific theories of evolution, which may directly clash with religious teachings of creation to which many children have been exposed at home and at church. Instead this court ... [leaves] the resolution of all these heady matters in the hands of a lone referee. Ironically, the lead opinion in this case proves the existence of God. Apparently, he’s an R.C. 3319.16 referee from Shelby.

Justice O'Donnell also filed a dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justices Pfeiffer and Kennedy. He argued that there was insufficient evidence to support the insubordination claim, and that Freshwater was improperly charged with injecting his personal religious beliefs into his teaching:

[T]he evidence in this case reveals that the school board has misinterpreted Freshwater’s effort to challenge students to think critically about evolutionary theory and instead construed his instruction as promoting intelligent design from a creationist perspective. This is a misimpression and contrary to the evidence in this case, and it is not a basis to terminate the contract of a teacher. 

The school board ... apparently assumed that he could not fairly present lessons on evolution and stated that he “not only injected his subjective, biased, Christian religion based, non-scientific opinion into the instruction of eighth grade science students but also gave those students reason to doubt the accuracy and or veracity of scientists, science textbooks, and/or science in general.” Yet student scores on standardized tests stand as strong, persuasive evidence of the board’s faulty conclusion; those scores instead reveal that Freshwater did teach evolution as mandated by the curriculum. Moreover, teaching students to question and rethink accepted scientific theories is essential to their understanding of the scientific method, the key concept his science students learned in eighth grade.

The Supreme Court also issued a lengthy press release on the decision, and the Columbus Dispatch reports on the decision.

Suit Challenges High School's Assemblies That Promoted Christianity

The American Humanist Association announced yesterday that this week it filed a federal lawsuit against a Flowood, Mississippi high school asserting an Establishment Clause challenge to three mandatory school assemblies that promoted Christianity. The complaint (full text) in M.B. v. Rankin County School District, (SD MS, filed 4/24/2013) alleges that Northwest Rankin High School held mandatory assemblies for various grade levels, led by members of the Pinelake Baptist Church.  The Assembly began with  a video about four troubled young men who found hope through Jesus. Then speakers urged students to embrace Christianity