Texas Grandma Simply Requests Right to Publicly Distribute Religious Literature
by Allie Martin
September 22, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Texas public school district could soon find itself in court for allegedly violating the free-speech rights of a Christian.Last spring Janice Colston, a Christian woman who lives outside of Dallas, was distributing religious literature on a public sidewalk outside Crowley High School when administrators forced her to move to the end of the street, preventing contact with students. Believing that her right to free speech was being denied, Colston sought legal advice from the Liberty Legal Institute in nearby Plano, then tried several times to resolve the issue with school officials, to no avail.
Now Liberty Legal has sent a demand letter to the Crowley Independent School District, requesting that she be permitted to distribute the literature on the public sidewalk with no interference from school officials. Liberty Legal's Hiram Sasser says the Texas grandmother is being denied a right that every citizen has.
"We sent a letter to the school board asking them to stop this outrageous conduct, and to affirm that the First Amendment protects the right of all citizens to share their religious faith on a public sidewalk, whether it's in front of a school or in front of a courthouse," the attorney explains.
Liberty Legal describes the right to share one's faith as a "precious right" guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. Colston's constitutional rights must be respected, says Sasser.
"This is a core freedom here because the right to share your faith on a public sidewalk is central to all other rights that you enjoy as someone of religious faith who wants to share their faith," Sasser says. "So we have to protect this core right. Frankly, this is the main show."
Sasser says the next step is legal action, unless the school district reverses its actions. Thus far, according to Colston's co-counsel Tom Brandon, the district has continued to "bow its neck" in the face of clear constitutional law.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
