The group Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit against Unified School District No. 204, on behalf of a middle school student, examiner.com reports. The lawsuit alleges that the student was prohibited from distributing fliers to promote a prayer meeting led by students before school started, in violation of her First and 14th Amendment rights.
The prayer meeting is known as “See You at the Pole,” and many schools across the nation celebrate a moment of student-led prayer in front of the school (at the flagpole, if appropriate). Thousands of students across Alabama, for example, gathered at flagpoles to pray on Sept 25 for “See You at the Pole,” a national day of prayer for students, al.com reports.
ADF says school officials discriminated against the the student because of the viewpoint expressed on her fliers, which included verses from the Christian Bible. If that’s what happened, it would constitute “viewpoint discrimination,” and it’s generally considered in violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. That is, the government—here, the school—can’t ban student speech because the viewpoint being expressed isn’t agreeable to school officials.
Schools can ban student speech for other reasons, though. This includes speech that would be disruptive to the school’s mission or incite violence. Even speech that promotes illegal activity can be banned, in some cases, which is why ADF found it puzzling that school officials didn’t ban a flier promoting rap artist Lil’ Wayne with the words “Good Kush and Alcohol,” a reference to the illegal drug marijuana. Certainly marijuana is worse than a prayer meeting, right?
Well, this is where it gets tricky. These cases sometimes don’t make it to a courtroom, though, since the school usually gives in and allows the speech. Even if it includes references to religion, there may be no legal defense for banning the speech if it’s non-disruptive and takes place outside normal school hours. Keep in mind, the school isn’t banning the student from conducting the prayer meeting; it’s banning her from posting fliers on school walls that say certain things.
The lawsuit claims a school counselor confronted the student at a school dance in front of her friends about the See You at the Pole fliers. The counselor is reported to have claimed the fliers were “illegal,” because of the Bible verses, and could not be posted or distributed at school.
The fliers were torn down off the walls, ADF said. Very few students attended the event—probably because they didn’t know about it, because the school tore down all the fliers.
According to the lawsuit, the ADF charges the school with violation of the:
- First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause
- First Amendment’s Free Exercise of Religion Clause
- 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause
- First Amendment’s Establishment Clause
- 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause
But it’s not going to make it to a courtroom, which is why we’re asking you to be the judge in this case. How do you think it should be decided? For reference, we note that an Arizona school district reversed its ban in May 2012 on religious fliers in response to a federal lawsuit filed by the ADF. The school board voted there unanimously to change district policy to allow fliers of a religious nature on its campuses, and they held this vote long before the case went to court.
In your argument, defend the student first and then the school district on each Constitutional claim. I think you’ll discover that some claims are better than others.
