Hawk maintains that his obstinacy over public photography is about more than razzing local rent-a-cops. “I want to educate people — photographers and security guards — about their rights,” he says.
Well done Thomas!
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From Liberty Legal: Federal Court Issues Judgment Against Plano ISD in Religious Discrimination Lawsuit.
Federal Judge Michael H. Schneider has just issued a judgment against Plano Independent School District in the case of S.W.A.T. v. Plano ISD.
“Discrimination against students or their student group because of their faith is not the law, it is illegal”, said Kelly Shackelford Chief Counsel of Liberty Legal Institute. “Religious student groups have the same rights and benefits as every other student group.”
S.W.A.T., a student group brought suit for being denied equal access to the same benefits as all other student groups, including a posting on the website.
Meanwhile, the candy cane case is still ongoing.
(Hat tip to DallasNews.com)
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DallasNews.com has picked up the candy cane case today which we shared earlier this week.
In Plano, Mr. Abernathy said the denial has nothing to do with the religious message. “The Plano ISD respects each student’s right to religious expression,” he wrote in a letter to Liberty Legal. District policy states that materials that are not controlled by the school cannot be distributed in hallways or classrooms. Instead, materials can be left in a central location at the school.
I bet that’s called the no fun policy! How can they possibly enforce such a rigid policy? Think about it, a student cannot give another student a private note in the hallway by the letter of the law.
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I received this press release this evening from Scott Wilder:
Third Grade Boy Told No Religion In School: Demand Letter Sent To School Seeking To Enforce Religious Rights
Plano – Today, a demand letter was sent to the Plano Independent School District (ISD) after the school told a third grade boy that he could not pass out candy with a religious message at his class party. The letter includes information about the First Amendment’s protection of religious speech and asks Plano ISD to stop censoring religious expression and comply with the law.
“Our public schools are not ‘zones of religious censorship’ where students are bound and gagged as to their religious freedom,” said Kelly Shackelford, Chief Counsel with Liberty Legal Institute.
Jonathan Morgan, a student at Thomas Elementary School in Plano, had plans to pass out candy with an attached religious message, entitled “The Legend of the Candy Cane.” Morgan was set to pass out the gifts at a class party on December 19, 2003, but was informed that no student is allowed to give a gift containing a religious expression.
“This Christmas-time censorship around the country has got to stop,” said Shackelford. “Our children are the ones suffering from this discrimination. Neither students nor teachers lose their religious freedoms at the schoolhouse gate.”
“It is a fundamental principle of law that school officials may not suppress or exclude the speech of private parties simply because the speech is religious or includes religious content.”It is about time that our schools start doing the right thing on their own instead of always forcing us to resort to legal action to educate school officials on the law,” said Hiram Sasser, Director of Litigation with Liberty Legal Institute.
I couldn’t agree more with Kelly on this one. Schools, cities, countries, and the courts are going so far out of their way to not offend anyone, no one is free to express their own beliefs anymore. That is not what this country was founded upon. It was religious liberty.
Please drop the Superintendent of Schools for the Plano ISD, Dr. Douglas Otto a kind note to let him know your views on this matter. His email is address is doug.otto@pisd.edu.
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