Liberty Counsel Hopes Court Strikes Down School Policy Banning Pro-Life Literature
by Allie Martin
June 30, 2005
(AgapePress) - A federal judge is set to render a decision regarding a public school student's request to hand out pro-life flyers to her friends.Two years ago, Michelle Heinkel wanted to distribute flyers to her friends at her middle school at Fort Myers, Florida, announcing the annual "Day of Remembrance." However, the superintendent of the Lee County School District denied the student's request because of the nature of the flyers.
Mat Staver is president of Liberty Counsel, a Orlando-based nonprofit legal group, which sued the school district on Heinkel's behalf. "The 'Day of Remembrance' occurs each year in April," he explains, "and it's a day that is set aside to remember all of the children's lives who have been lost through the tragedy of abortion." Staver contends that, whether or not the school likes it, "pro-life speech and the preservation of human life from the moment of conception until natural death is constitutionally protected." A pro-life message cannot be censored simply because someone disagrees with its content, he insists.
The Liberty Counsel spokesman notes that some of Heinkel's classmates have contracted sexually transmitted diseases, have been impregnated, and some have no doubt considered or maybe even obtained abortions. "That is why it's so important for Michelle and other individuals like her in public schools to give out a message of hope, give out a message of life, and to be able to stand for those who simply have no voice of their own," he says.
Staver says the Lee County School District's policy regarding literature distribution is blatantly unconstitutional. It requires that all distribution requests must be submitted first to the superintendent for review to determine whether to approve the request. However, the prior review policy contains no time limit in which the superintendent must respond to a request and has no objective standards to guide the school official's decision, but requires him or her to determine whether it is political, proselytizing, or religious.
During the summary judgment hearing on Heinkel's request, an attorney for the Lee County school board conceded that the school policy, as written, was unconstitutional, but said the superintendent was right to ban the student's literature because it was pro-life. Essentially, the Liberty Counsel president notes, he argued "that pro-life literature should be an exception to the First Amendment."
Staver doubts the school district's literature distribution guidelines, such as they are, will hold up under court scrutiny. "I believe that in the next 30 to 45 days, when the court issues its decision, this policy in [this] high school will be struck down," he says. He maintains that Michelle Heinkel has a clear right to share a message of life and hope with her fellow classmates.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
