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, nebraskalawp...@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. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others. **************Need a job? Find employment help in your area. 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_______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
