An Interesting Govt School Censorship Case

Wed Mar 4 07:46:42 PST 2009

Although I'm not claiming the school was correct in this instance, there is  
a context to the case that the ADF press release completely leaves out. I used 
 to be surprised at the dishonesty of these ADF press releases, but now I see 
 them as puzzles where the challenge is to find the actual facts. From this 
press  release, for example, you'd never know that the ACLU  successfully 
challenged several practices in this school  district that violated the 
Establishment Clause. The closest the press release  comes to revealing that information 
is the two sentence paragraph:

"The American Civil Liberties Union previously sued the school to stop it  
from recognizing such events, including “See You at the Pole” and the National  
Day of Prayer. In May 2008, _a federal judge  refused to grant the ACLU’s 
request_ (http://www.telladf.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=4538) ."

Now, if you follow that link, it leads to _an ADF page_ 
(http://www.telladf.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=4538)   that, again, never mentions the school's 
Establishment Clause violations and  describes the May 2008 result like this: 
"“This is a win for religious freedom  and, if not a total loss for the ACLU, 
certainly a hollow, shallow victory."  Even worse, that ADF page provides _a 
link to the ACLU  complaint that starts on page 19_ 
(www.telladf.org/UserDocs/WilsonReliefRequest.pdf) , again cutting out the most pertinent  facts. 
Similarly, _the link to  the judge's decision_ 
(www.telladf.org/UserDocs/WilsonOrder.pdf)  on that page leads to another ADF page that includes  only the order, 
cutting out the memorandum describing in detail the school's  Establishment 
Clause violations.

The full judge's decision is included in the May 30, 2008, ACLU press  
release on the Wilson County case at:

_http://www.aclu.org/religion/schools/35742prs20080530.html_ 
(http://www.aclu.org/religion/schools/35742prs20080530.html) 

Here are five pertinent paragraphs:

****************
The lawsuit, Doe v. Wilson County School  System, filed by the American Civil 
Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN)  charged that a variety of religious 
activities occurring at Lakeview Elementary  School in Mt. Juliet, including 
praying during school hours by a group of  parents who then distributed fliers 
in classrooms informing individual students  they had been prayed for, were 
unconstitutional.

"In a strongly worded 59-page decision, the  Judge ruled that school 
officials were engaged in a systematic pattern of  religious violations and that the 
school supported and tolerated religious  activities taking place on its 
campus," said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN Executive  Director. 
After nearly two years of litigation, the Court  ruled that Lakeview 
Elementary School administrators can not continue to give  preferential treatment to a 
religious group called the Praying Parents.  In  the past, this religious 
group was given nearly unfettered access to students  and faculty to promote 
Christianity and prayer.  In finding that these  activities violated the First 
Amendment, the Court found that the effect of the  group's predominant religious 
purpose was to advance Christianity at  Lakeview. 
The school administration apparently agreed with  the group's purpose and 
activities and did not properly monitor and supervise  their activities on school 
property, and, by allowing these activities, the  school tacitly or overtly 
endorsed the group's activities.  By doing so the  school became excessively 
entangled with the group's religious activities, and  abandoned the school's 
constitutional obligation to maintain strict neutrality  toward religion. 
The Court issued an injunction preventing any  group from being given 
preferential treatment and ordering that all individuals  and groups requesting 
access to the school request permission and be treated  equally. The Court also 
admonished the school for allowing teachers and  administrators to be active 
participants in religious activities at the school,  for displaying the Ten 
Commandments in the school hallway and for allowing the  distribution of Gideon's 
Bibles to students. 

****************
One reason I've been such a loyal member of the ACLU for so long is because  
I've always been impressed with the way the ACLU sticks to its principles  and 
sticks to the truth. I've seen occasional errors in ACLU press  releases, but 
never the dishonesty with the facts that I  habitually find in these ADF 
ones. Ironically, this press release includes  an accusation about "the ACLU’s 
long-term record of fear, intimidation, and  disinformation." What a big lie!

Allen Asch
(full disclosure: although I am speaking only for myself, I currently serve  
on the board of the ACLU of Northern California)

In a message dated 3/3/2009 4:39:06 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
nebraskalawprof at yahoo.com writes:

This is a very  interesting recent case. A good one for class discussion. 
Here is the  ADF press release (including before censorship and after censorship  
pictures:

"Tenn. school censors ‘God Bless the USA,’ ‘In God We  Trust,’ ADF sues

_http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4847_ 
(http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4847)  
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
March 3, 2009 – FOR IMMEDIATE  RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or _www.telladf.org/pressroom_ 
(http://www.telladf.org/pressroom)  
** PHOTOS LINKED BELOW ** 
Tenn. school censors ‘God Bless the USA,’ ‘In God We  Trust’ 
School orders references to God and prayer covered up on  posters 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a  lawsuit 
Tuesday on behalf of parents and students at Lakeview Elementary  School in 
Wilson County after school officials ordered “God Bless the  USA,” “In God We 
Trust,” and other phrases referencing God and prayer to  be covered up on 
posters before they could be displayed in the school’s  hallways. The posters were 
hand-drawn by students and their families to  announce “See You at the Pole,” 
a voluntary, student-led prayer event  held outside of class time. 
“Christian students shouldn’t be censored for expressing their  beliefs,” 
said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. “It’s ridiculous as well  as 
unconstitutional to cover up these references to God and prayer–one  of which is the 
National Motto itself–on posters announcing a  student-led activity. School 
officials appear to be having an allergic  reaction to the ACLU’s long-term record of 
fear, intimidation, and  disinformation, despite a previous court ruling at 
this very school that  said students can observe these types of events on school 
property.” 
The American Civil Liberties Union previously sued the school to stop  it 
from recognizing such events, including “See You at the Pole” and the  National 
Day of Prayer. In May 2008, _a federal  judge refused to grant the ACLU’s 
request_ (http://www.telladf.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=4538) . 
Each year, students and parents affiliated with Lakeview Elementary  School 
in Mt. Juliet have placed posters in the hallways of the school  informing 
students of the “See You at the Pole” event. This year, each  poster, made on 
personal time without the use of any school funds or  supplies, included the 
disclaimer: “See You at the Pole is a  student-initiated and student-led event and 
is not endorsed by Lakeview  Elementary or Wilson County schools.” 
Nevertheless, the students and  their parents were ordered to cover up references to God 
and prayer and  any Scripture passages on the posters or else they could not 
be  posted. 
After a school employee told the parent of one student, “You can’t  hang up 
those posters. They have the word ‘God’ on them,” the school’s  vice 
principal and director reinforced the policy, explaining that  posters containing 
religious references, like “In God We Trust,” “God  Bless America,” and “come 
and pray,” are precluded by school board  policy and prohibited in the hallways 
as inappropriate. 
“The Constitution prohibits government officials from singling out  religious 
speech for censorship, but this is exactly what Lakeview  school officials 
did when they ordered these words to be covered,”  Kellum said. 
ADF-allied attorney David L. Maddox is serving as local counsel in  the case. 
• Before and after photos of one “Go_d Bless the  USA_ 
(http://www.telladf.org/UserDocs/GodBlesstheUSA.pdf) ” poster
• Before and after photos of one “_In God We  Trust_ 
(http://www.telladf.org/UserDocs/InGodWeTrust.pdf) ” poster
• Before and after posters of one “_Come Pray With  Us_ 
(http://www.telladf.org/UserDocs/ComePrayWithUs.pdf) ” poster
• _Complaint_ (http://www.telladf.org/UserDocs/GoldComplaint.pdf)   and 
_motion for  preliminary injunction_ 
(http://www.telladf.org/UserDocs/GoldPImotion.pdf)  with supporting brief filed in Gold v. Wilson  County School Board of 
Education with the U.S. District Court for the  Middle District of Tennessee"

Rick Duncan 
Welpton Professor of Law 
University of Nebraska  College of Law 
Lincoln, NE 68583-0902

"Democracy is  two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. 
Liberty is a  well-armed lamb contesting 
the vote."--Ben Franklin (perhaps  misattributed, but still worthy of 
Franklin)

"It's a funny thing about us human beings: not many of us doubt  God's 
existence and then start sinning. Most of us sin and then start  doubting His 
existence."  --J. Budziszewski (The Revenge of  Conscience)

"Once again the ancient maxim is vindicated, that the perversion of  the best 
is the worst." --  Id.

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