Lawyer Expects Court to Uphold Christian Teacher's Rights
by Jim Brown
June 18, 2004
(AgapePress) - A federal appeals court in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is considering whether it may bar a Christian teacher from taking part in an after-school Christian club that meets on campus.Recently the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a case involving Barbara Wigg, a teacher in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, school district who was prohibited from serving in Good News Clubs anywhere in the district. Good News Clubs are groups that use songs, crafts, and stories to teach children character and moral development from a Christian viewpoint.
Mrs. Wigg's attorney, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, says the school district's actions are blatantly unconstitutional. Last summer Liberty Counsel sued the Sioux Falls School District on Wigg's behalf, and Staver says the judges who heard his Federal Court of Appeals argument appeared to agree.
The attorney says the court appeared "very favorable to our position," and seemed baffled by the opposing side's arguments. "In fact," he notes, "the Court of Appeals judges were confused by the district and simply said, 'Why don't you allow Mrs. Wigg to be treated equally like you allow equal treatment for your other personnel and other community groups to discuss secular issues?'"
Obviously, Staver says, the school district cannot censor Mrs. Wigg's religious speech during her own personal free time, and he believes the court recognize this, and rule accordingly. Based upon how the arguments went, the attorney says he anticipates that the court will ultimately rule in his client's favor and "allow Mrs. Wigg and other teachers like her to have equal treatment, whether it's at their own school facility or in the other school facilities throughout the district."
Staver believes the judges will uphold his client's rights and set a precedent that will apply to others liker her. He says such a ruling will establish that Christian teachers "can come on campus just like anyone else, have equal access, equal treatment, and discuss the same topics as anyone else from a Christian viewpoint on their own time."
Although district policy allows both religious and secular groups to use school facilities for after-school meetings, the district still contends that Wigg cannot be involved in the Good News Clubs because she is a teacher in a public school. A ruling in the case is expected within three to six months.
