Posting Of National Motto In School Does Not Violate Establishment Clause

In JLF v. Tennessee State Board of Education, (MD TN, May 18, 2022), a Tennessee federal district court upheld Tennessee's statute that requires all public schools to post the national motto "In God We Trust" in a prominent location. The law was challenged under the Establishment Clause by the father of a kindergartener on behalf of his daughter whose school has posted the motto as part of a display in the entryway to the school.  The court said in part:

The court finds ... in light of the substantial body of law ... repeatedly concluding in a variety of contexts that the national motto has a secular purpose and that its display does not violate the Establishment Clause, that the Lemon test is of limited utility in this context.... The fact that the display is in a public school does not require enhanced scrutiny.... [T]he posting of the national motto in schools “involves no coercion,” “does not purport to compel belief or acquiescence,” “does not command participation in any form of religious exercise,” “does not assert a preference for one religious denomination or sect over others, and it does not involve the state in the governance of any church.”...

Suit Challenges School Assembly Featuring Evangelical Minister

Suit was filed yesterday in a West Virginia federal district court by students at Huntington High School and their parents alleging that a school assembly featuring Nik Walker, a Christian evangelical minister, violated the Establishment Clause.  The complaint (full text) in Mays v. Cabell County Board of Education, (SD WV, filed 2/17/2022), alleges in part:

Most recently, schools within Cabell County sponsored religious revivals during the school day. At the behest of adult evangelists, Huntington High School held an assembly for students that sought to convert students to evangelical Christianity. Some students were forced to attend. Regardless of whether attendance is mandatory or voluntary, the Defendants violate the First Amendment by permitting, coordinating, and encouraging students to attend an adult-led worship service and revival at their school during the school day.

Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a press release announcing the lawsuit, reports that on Feb. 9, more than 100 students staged a walkout in protest of the assembly.

 

California Settles Suit Over Aztec Prayer In Ethnic Studies Curriculum

A Settlement Agreement (full text) was reached last week (Jan. 13) with the California Department of Education in a suit that had been filed (see prior posting) challenging a prayer to Aztec gods that was in included in the state's Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. According to an announcement of the agreement by the Thomas More Society:

As a result of the settlement, that the California Department of Education will promptly remove prayers (also labeled as chants or affirmations) from the Aztec and Yoruba (or Ashe) religions from the state-approved curriculum and will issue a public notice of such to all California school districts, charter schools and county offices of education. The department, along with the State Board of Education, also agreed not to encourage the use of the two challenged chants in California public schools.

Supreme Court Grants Review In Case Of Football Coach's Praying At 50-Yard Line

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, (Docket No. 21-418, cert. granted, 1/14/2022). (Order List.)  In the widely followed case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a high school's actions against a football coach who insisted on prominently praying at the 50-yard line immediately after football games. The coach was placed on paid administrative leave and given negative performance reviews. He did not reapply to coach the following year. A divided 9th Circuit denied en banc review. (See prior posting.) SCOTUS blog reports on the Supreme Court's grant of review. [Corrected. An earlier version of this post inaccurately stated that the coach was "fired".]

School District Sued For Favoring Christian Cultural and Speech Activities

Suit was filed this week in a California federal district court alleging that a California school district has given preference to Christian cultural and speech activities over those of other religions, including Judaism. The complaint (full text) in Lyons v. Carmel Unified School District, (ND CA, filed 12/7/2021), particularly focuses on the refusal by Carmel River School to allow the display of an inflatable menorah at a widely-promoted after-school holiday celebration which will include the decoration and lighting of a Christmas tree and Christmas-themed holiday songs. The complaint alleges that the school has violated the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses as well as free speech and equal protection provisions. Courthouse News Service reports on the lawsuit.

Magistrate Recommends Dismissing Religious Objections To School's Teaching Transgender Understanding

In Jones v. Boulder Valley School District RE-2, (D CO, Oct. 4, 2021), a Colorado federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing a suit by parents of three elementary school students who contended that their free exercise and equal protection rights, as well as their parental rights to control the upbringing of their children, were violated when the school instituted a program to teach tolerance and understanding of transgender individuals that conflicted with the parents religious beliefs.

Plaintiffs ... emphasize that all they want is proper advance notice and the ability to opt-out of transgender programming as provided for by Colorado law....  The problem is that the federal constitution does not mandate advance notice or the ability to opt out of particular classes or programs, and especially not from particular classroom discussions. The federal constitution protects religious children and families by ensuring that a state cannot punish them if they choose to educate their children outside the public system, whether at home or at areligious school. But the federal constitution gives parents no First Amendment or due process right to direct to what is taught in the schools based on their own personal religious beliefs, nor does the federal constitution mandate the right to a religious "opt-out" option from particular classes or specific programming. From the federal constitutional perspective ..., it is up to the local school district to decide what is taught and at what age....

A Notice of Settlement was filed with the court on Nov. 15, and the case was terminated.

Before-School Religious Club Requirement To Play Basketball OK'd

In K.K. & K.K. v. Comer, (ED TN, Nov. 5, 2021), a Tennessee federal district court dismissed a suit brought by the married lesbian mothers of a middle school student challenging a before-school basketball program which allowed students to participate only if they also participated in the Teens For Christ Club. The court dismissed the claim against the Knox County Board of Education, saying in part:

Plaintiff’s allegations only suggest that a policymaker was aware of the existence of the Teens for Christ Club, but Plaintiff’s allegations do not go so far as to make it plausible that a final policymaker was put on notice of ongoing unconstitutional conduct like the alleged condition precedent.

The court also found that plaintiffs had failed to allege sufficient facts to support their claim that the school board failed to adequately train employees.

In addition, the court went on to dismiss the Establishment Clause claim brought against the physical education teacher involved on qualified immunity grounds, saying in part: 

Defendant Comer argues that the Court must assume that he was reading from the Bible and proselytizing to voluntary participants of the Teens for Christ Club and simply allowed those participants to shoot basketballs in the gymnasium before school. Lastly, Defendant Comer asserts that while he was allegedly reading from the Bible to the voluntary participants, he was lawfully exercising his own First Amendment rights....

Plaintiff cites to no caselaw clearly establishing that it is patently unconstitutional for a teacher like Defendant Comer to allow a religious school club to use the school gymnasium to shoot basketballs outside of regular school hours.

3rd Circuit Hears Arguments On School's Presentation of Material On Islam

On Sept. 23, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Hilsenrath v. School District of the Chathams (audio of full oral arguments). In the case, a New Jersey federal district court held that the Chathams' 7th grade World Cultures and Geography course presentation of material about Islam did not violate the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) Courthouse News Service reports in detail on the oral arguments, saying that the judges "posed tough questions to both sides." [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Suit Challenges California's Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum

Suit was filed earlier this month in a California state trial court challenging a portion of the state's Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.  The complaint (full text) in Californians for Equal Rights Foundation v. State of California, (Super. Ct., filed 9/3/2021), alleges that the chair of the committee that developed the model curriculum has shown in his writings an animus toward Christianity and Catholicism, and reflects this by including in the model curriculum various prayers based on indigenous religious principles. the complaint continues:

The ... ESMC Lesson Resources section contains a prayer entitled the “In Lak Ech Affirmation” .... The Aztec Prayer invokes the names of five beings worshiped by the Aztecs as gods or demi-gods.... The names of these Aztec gods are collectively invoked 20 times.... They are honored and praised by repeatedly invoking their respective names...

The ancient Aztec religion is not a philosophy, dead mythology, historic curiosity, general outlook on life, or mere symbol. Rather, it is a recognized living faith practiced today both by descendants of the Aztecs and by others..... The fact that it is not large, institutional, or well-known does not change its status as a religion.

The complaint also contends that the curriculum also includes the Ashe Affirmation taken from Yoruba religion of Nigeria. The complaint asserts violations of the establishment clause, free exercise clause and no-aid clause of the California constitution. Religion News Service reports on the lawsuit.

Virginia Supreme Court Sides With Teacher Who Spoke Against School's Transgender Policy

In Louden County School Board v. Cross, (VA Sup. Ct., Aug. 30, 2021), the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a preliminary injunction issued by a trial court in a suit by a teacher who had been suspended because of his remarks at a school board meeting. Tanner Cross, an elementary school physical education teacher, at a school board meeting spoke in opposition to a proposed policy on transgender students which, among other things, required school staff to use a student's chosen name and gender pronouns. Cross told the board, in part:

I’m a teacher but I serve God first. And I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it is against my religion. It’s lying to a child. It’s abuse to a child. And it’s sinning against our God.

The Supreme Court said in part:

The only disruption the Defendants can point to is that a tiny minority of parents requested that Cross not interact with their children. However, the Defendants identify no case in which such a nominal actual or expected disturbance justified restricting speech as constitutionally valued as Cross’ nor have they attempted to explain why immediate suspension and restricted access to further Board meetings was the proportional or rational response to addressing the concerns of so few parents.

ADF issued a press release announcing the decision.

Amended Complaint Allowed In Suit Over Transcendental Meditation In Schools

In Separation of Hinduism From Our Schools v. Chicago Public Schools, (ND IL, Aug. 17, 2021), an Illinois federal district court granted in part plaintiffs' motion to amend their complaint in a suit challenging Chicago Public Schools' "Quiet Time" program which was led by a Transcendental Meditation instructor. In a previous opinion, the court dismissed claims against a private foundation and the University of Chicago which helped implement the program. (See prior posting.) Now the court holds that plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that the private foundation and the University were joint participants with the state to be state actors who can violate constitutional rights. However the court accepts the University's defense that its participation was not part of an official policy or custom-- a necessary component of liability under 42 USC §1983. The court also held that the complaint adequately states claims against the University, the foundation and the public schools under the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Certiorari Denied In Suit Over California Curriculum On Hinduism

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied review in California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials v. Torlakson, (Docket No. 20-1137, certiorari denied 4/26/2021). (Order List). In the case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a suit claiming that California's History-Social Science Standards and Framework incorrectly describe Hinduism and treat it negatively in relation to the treatment of other religions.

Challenge To Bible In Schools Program Survives Motion To Dismiss

In Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Mercer County Board of Education, (SD WV, March 26, 2021), a West Virginia federal district court denied a motion to dismiss filed by a school principal in an Establishment Clause challenge to the county's Bible in the Schools program. The court also found that it is impossible to determine at this stage of the case whether the principal is entitled to qualified immunity.

Court Dismisses Challenge To Book Used In High School Literature Curriculum

In Coble v. Lake Norman Charter School, (WD NC, Mrch 23, 2021), a North Carolina federal district court dismissed 1st Amendment challenges to a high school's use in its literature curriculum of the award-winning book The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. Plaintiffs, parents of a high school student (JHC), claim that the book is hostile to religion and disparages Catholicism. Rejecting plaintiffs' Establishment Clause argument, the court said in part:

The problem with the Cobles’ claim is that, without any factual allegations of how LNC uses The Poet X in the classroom, the Court has no ability to determine whether that specific use conveys an endorsement or disapproval of religion. The content of the book itself is not sufficient to prove a violation of the second Lemon prong even if the book’s content is disparaging toward a particular faith....

Rejecting a free exercise challenge, the court said in part:

In the present case, the Cobles claim that the potential exposure of their son to The Poet X violates the Free Exercise Clause because it violates JHC’s religious beliefs. But this claim ignores the fact that JHC was not required to read The Poet X. Rather, LNC offered an alternative to the book.... LNC’s offer of an alternative text tends to establish that LNC has done nothing to burden JHC’s religious practices.

Cert Filed In Case On Curricular Treatment of Hinduism

A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed this week in the U.S. Supreme Court in California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials v. Torlakson,(cert. filed 2/16/2021). In the case,  the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a suit claiming that California's History-Social Science Standards and Framework incorrectly describe Hinduism and treat it negatively in relation to the treatment of other religions. (See prior posting.) The cert petition frames the question presented as:

Whether the Free Exercise Clause permits the government to single out a religion for disfavored treatment so long as it does not “substantially burden” religious exercise.

[Thanks to Glenn Katon for the lead.]

New Jersey School's Presentation of Islam Did Not Violate Establishment Clause

 In Hilsenrath v. School District of the Chathams, (D NJ, Nov. 12, 2020), a New Jersey federal district court held that the 7th grade World Cultures and Geography course presentation of material about Islam did not violate the Establishment Clause.  The court held that a nominal damages claim is sufficient to give plaintiff standing to challenge the course material. The court said in part:

Here, the World Cultures course includes similar units on, for example, Hinduism and Buddhism, in which students watch videos on those religions to understand their tenets and practices.... A reasonable observer would not perceive an endorsement of Islam when the course also presented other religions in a similar manner. Further, Islam is introduced as part of a unit on the Middle East and North Africa in a course covering geography and world cultures, so it is presented in conjunction with nonreligious material about a region of the world....

This case falls into the category of those in which schools permissibly asked students to “read, discuss, and think” about a religion.

TAPinto reports on the decision.

Slam Poetry Book In Curriculum Upheld

In Coble v. Lake Norman Charter School, Inc., (WD NC, Nov. 6, 2020), a North Carolina federal district court refused to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent a public charter school from including The Poet X in its ninth-grade language arts curriculum. Plaintiffs claim that inclusion of the book violates the Establishment Clause as well as their free exercise rights. The court said in part:

The sincerity of Plaintiffs’ religious objections to The Poet X is not disputed, nor is the fact that the book deeply offends Plaintiffs. Even accepting, however, that the work is antithetical to the particular Christian beliefs espoused by Plaintiffs, its inclusion in the high school curriculum alone does not violate the Establishment Clause...

The issue is not whether The Poet X embodies anti-Christian elements; the Court assumes that it does. Instead, the issue is whether its selection and retention by school officials “communicat[es] a message of government endorsement” of those elements....

Similarly, inclusion of The Poet X as representative of a particular literary genre (slam poetry / verse novel) neither religiously inhibits nor instills, but simply informs and educates, students on a particular social outlook forged in the crucible of Afro-Latinx urban life. To include the work in the curriculum, without further evidence of the school’s endorsement, no more communicates governmental endorsement of the author’s or characters’ religious views than to assign Paradise Lost, Pilgrim’s Progress, or The Divine Comedy conveys endorsement or approval of Milton’s, Bunyan’s, or Dante’s Christianity....

Suit Challenges Missionaries Class In Oklahoma Elementary School

 Suit was filed in an Oklahoma federal district court this week by secular humanists who object to an Oklahoma elementary school's "Missionaries" program which brings Christian missionaries into the school as part of the regular curriculum for students in pre-K through 8th grade. Students are not permitted to opt out of the class. The complaint (full text) in American Humanist Association, Inc. v. Elementary School District No. 22 of Adair County Oklahoma, (ED OK, filed 10/27/2020) alleges that the practice violates the Establishment Clause. American Humanist Association issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. [Thanks to Friendly Atheist via Mel Kaufman for the lead.]

Consent Decree Ends Religious Practices In Tennessee School District

Earlier this week, a Tennessee federal district court issued a consent decree in Butler v. Smith County Board of Education, (MD TN, Sept. 14, 2020), enjoining various religious practices in the Smith County schools. The Consent Decree and Order provides in part:

Complaint alleged that the Board has a custom, policy, and practice of violating the Establishment Clause by, among other actions, incorporating official prayer into school events; proselytizing students; and subjecting students to religious iconography via displays in classrooms, hallways, and other locations....

School Officials are enjoined from promoting, advancing, endorsing, participating in, or causing Prayers during or in conjunction with School Events for any school within the School District....

School Officials are enjoined from planning, organizing, financing, promoting, or otherwise sponsoring in whole or in part a Religious Service....

Defendants are enjoined from permitting School Officials at any school within the School District to promote their personal religious beliefs to students in class or during or in conjunction with a School Event....

School Officials are enjoined from taking retaliatory action against Plaintiffs or any member of their family for bringing this lawsuit or otherwise objecting to unconstitutional practices.

WZTV reports on the case.

9th Circuit Upholds California School Curriculum On Hinduism

 In California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials v. Torlakson, (9th Cir., Sept. 3, 2020), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a suit claiming that California's History-Social Science Standards and Framework incorrectly describe Hinduism and treat it negatively in relation to the treatment of other religions. Rejecting plaintiffs' free exercise claims, the court said in part:

Appellants allegations suggest at most that portions of the Standards and Framework contain material Appellants find offensive to their religious beliefs. .... Offensive content that does not penalize, interfere with, or otherwise burden religious exercise does not violate Free Exercise rights. 

The court also rejected equal protection, due process and establishment clause challenges. Education Week reports on the decision.