Attorney: Plano Schools Still Violating Students' Religious Freedom
by Jim Brown
April 20, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Christian attorney says even though it recently modified its policy on the distribution of non-school literature, the Plano (Texas) Independent School District is still trampling the free-speech rights of students.Last December, Liberty Legal Institute (LLI) filed a lawsuit against the Texas school system over its censorship of certain Christmastime activities and religious expressions. A federal judge ordered the district to allow students to distribute gifts with religious messages at their school Christmas parties, activities the school district had previously prohibited. (See related stories from December 16, 2004 and December 20, 2004)
Recently, Plano school officials announced that they will begin allowing students to pass out religious material at certain times during the school day. But Liberty Legal Institute chief counsel Kelly Shackelford feels the move by Plano Independent School District (PISD) was merely "window dressing" for the press.
"This is a school district that has refused to let the kids, for instance, hand out candy canes or hand out their religious messages," Shackelford says. "We have kids being told they could not write 'God bless you' to soldiers when they write a letter. And after refusing to budge for 17 months and fighting the parents at every instance -- they never called the parents to offer settlement -- [the district officials] decide they're going to change their policy, and they announce that in the press."
But despite the district officials' contention that PISD has amended its literature-distribution policy, the large Texas school district is still being accused of violating its students' freedom of religious expression. Shackelford maintains that even though the school officials apparently "think they've made some great improvement," the censorship in the schools is ongoing.
"They violated the Constitution a year and a half ago, and they're still violating the Constitution," the Liberty Legal attorney says. "And we're certainly not going to back down, and these kids are not going to back down, and their parents are not going to back down until this school district stops this stubborn refusal to follow the law and the Constitution."
Shackelford says LLI intends to proceed with its lawsuit. The legal organization, which specializes in defense of religious freedom, is seeking a preliminary injunction in the hope of completely putting an end to the Plano Independent School District's religious censorship and viewpoint discrimination.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
