Bible Club Fights For First Amendment Rights at Penn Public School
by Jim Brown
January 29, 2004
(AgapePress) - A Pennsylvania public school district is under fire for censoring the free speech of Christian students.At issue is a current Warwick School District policy that bars members of a student Bible Club from placing event posters on school bulletin boards. The district contends that allowing the group to post material such as advertisements for "See You At the Pole" and "True Love Waits" events would violate the so-called "separation of Church and State."
However, attorney Leonard Brown with the Lancaster firm of Clymer and Musser believes the school district has a faulty interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. He says when members of the Bible Club at Warwick attempted to put up their posters, school officials singled the group out and told them they could not post their material because of its religious content.
"In that situation it certainly infringes on their rights, specifically the right to free exercise of religion and free speech," Brown says.
The attorney says the school district is on shaky legal ground. "We're trying to work with the school district," he says. "We haven't rushed into court to file anything because the school district appears to be opening to changing their policies."
Brown is calling on the district to adopt poster and literature distribution policies that will accommodate all students and campus groups. In the meantime, he says the district has assured him that all posters will be reviewed, and the student's legal representatives will be informed before any posters are denied.
Also, Brown notes that the school has agreed to allow literature to be distributed while they are engaging in this discussion. "So they have acquiesced to allow the Bible Club to express their First Amendment rights, which is exactly what we're trying to do," he says.
Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, feels it is essential for believing public school students and their parents to understand their rights under U.S. law. "Christians do not have to drop their constitutionally protected free speech at the schoolhouse door," she says.
