Student Sues School for Removing Bible Club Display
by Jim Brown
March 1, 2004
(AgapePress) - An Oregon high school senior has filed a federal lawsuit against the Portland School District over its decision to remove a display of items from his Bible club.The suit alleges that Marshall High School allowed 17-year-old Jeff Chatterton, a leader in Teens Encountering Christ, to put religious books and other items in a school display case. However, the suit claims the material was removed within days because school officials said it sanctioned religion.
Chatterton's attorney, Stuart Roth of the American Center for Law and Justice, says the school's actions were a clear violation of the Equal Access Act, which was upheld as Constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in the early 1990s. That law, he says, was passed specifically to address the type of situation Chatterton's Bible club is facing in Portland.
"It appears that the school district has created different types of classifications," the attorney says, "but [unfortunately it created] the type of classification that leaves the Bible club as a second-class citizen, so to speak, without the full range of rights and privileges as other non-curriculum related clubs."
The ACLJ litigator commends Chatterton and his family for standing up for the young man's constitutional rights.
"Quite frankly, it takes a lot of courage -- and a lot of people don't think about this -- for a young man and his family to stand up against the school district and go to the extent of filing a lawsuit, which oftentimes is very unpopular in a local community, to ensure that their rights and their liberties are upheld," Roth says.
He says the ACLJ does not see many legal situations like Chatterton's anymore because the law is so well known. However, he says such cases have far-reaching implications, and arguing them lets Christians know they are not second-class citizens.
