Senior Citizens Labeled 'Heroes' in Texas Battle for Religious Freedoms
by Allie Martin and Jody Brown
January 13, 2004
(AgapePress) - The U.S. Justice Department has accepted an agreement between members of a senior citizens center in a Dallas suburb and city officials which provides religious freedoms for the elderly residents.Last year, city officials in Balch Springs told residents attending daily meetings at the local senior citizens center that they could no longer pray over their meals, sing gospel music, or have inspirational messages from the Bible presented in the building. The ban was put in place by City Manager Kandi Hubert after two residents of the center complained about a lack of separation of Church and State.
Liberty Legal Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of the seniors, and the Department of Justice opened an investigation of the city.
Now Liberty president Kelly Shackelford says a settlement has been reached. "We've just filed an Agreed Judgment [that] not only gets the senior citizens all of the religious freedoms that they have requested from the very beginning, but it also awards them money damages as well," the attorney explains.
According to The Dallas Morning News, the Balch Springs city council accepted the resignation of City Manager Hubert after the agreement was announced -- and is considering firing the city attorney who advised her to institute the ban.
Shackelford says the case should serve as a lesson to others about the First Amendment rights of citizens in a public place. "These seniors are heroes," he says. "From the very beginning, they told us that their main motivation wasn't just to stand for their freedoms, but they didn't want this to happen to any other senior citizens group around the country."
According to Shackelford, the Balch Springs case send a strong message to every senior citizens center across the country: "You take away or restrict the religious freedoms of the senior citizens in your center, and you'll have a price to pay."
