Illinois Senior Defending Right to Say 'God Bless' in School
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
January 27, 2004
(AgapePress) - A pro-family law firm is defending a Christian student who was kicked off his public school's daily TV broadcast program for uttering two words while on the air: "God bless."Dupo High School in Dupo, Illinois, has suspended senior James Lord for at least a month for telling people before the Christmas vacation: "Have a safe and happy holiday, and God bless." The school claims Lord's comment was inappropriate for public school and violated the so-called "separation of Church and State."
But his attorney, Frank Manion with the American Center for Law and Justice, says the school acted unconstitutionally. "This is, at best, a sham, an over-reaction, [and] a misinterpretation of what the law requires with regard to religion in schools," Manion says. "We are prepared to vindicated James' First Amendment free-speech rights in court, if necessary -- and we hope it won't be necessary."
A member of the Dupo School Board is quoted as saying while he personally has no problem with Lord's comments, Superintendent Michael Koebel "knows the rules and knows what people can say and can't say." Manion agrees with that assessment -- to a certain point.
"Obviously, schools have the right -- perhaps the duty -- to supervise and monitor what is broadcast within the school over the public address system or, as in this case, a closed-circuit TV system," the attorney says. "And the decisions they make are normally not going to be second-guessed, as long as they reflect some legitimate, pedagogical concern" -- a phrase used by the Supreme Court.
"In this case, it's clear that there is no [such] concern with a student uttering the words 'God bless,'" Manion states.
Tonight (Tuesday), Lord will attempt to address his local school board by asking members to revoke his suspension and acknowledge the right of a student to use the expression "God bless." According to WorldNetDaily, the senior distributed more than 400 flyers to encourage local citizens to attend the meeting. He told a local newspaper he cannot guarantee he will not repeat the two-word phrase when he returns to the TV show on February 1.
