Posts Tagged ‘student religious liberty’
Federal judge rebuffs teen’s religious claim in ID-tracking case
Court agrees Texas district can transfer Andrea Hernandez to another school, saying electronic-tracking badge requirement ‘has an incidental effect, if any, on [her] religious beliefs.’
Texas high schooler challenges use of ‘locator’ chips in student IDs
Andrea Hernandez and her family view the microchip embedded in her school’s new ID cards as a ‘mark of the beast’ and sacrilege to their Christian faith.
Fla. school erred in barring Easter fliers, judge says
Tampa Bay Times: U.S. magistrate judge rules that denying a fourth-grader permission to hand out invitations to an Easter-egg hunt violated his First Amendment rights.
Rosaries, gangs and the battle over religious symbols in schools
Nobody wants gangs roaming schools, but sweeping bans on students’ religious symbols are wrong unless there’s strong evidence that wearing one would very likely cause serious disruption.
Student loses case involving religious message in speech
Federal court finds New York state public school had a legitimate purpose in preventing class co-president from ending her speech with a religious blessing.
Grad student claims college punished her for religious beliefs
Attorney tells 11th Circuit judges that Georgia university threatened to expel Jennifer Keeton because of her views on homosexuality.
9th Circuit: Student can’t sue teacher over creationism comment
Judges say California high school instructor is protected from lawsuit because he had a reasonable belief that such comments were acceptable in an advanced-placement class.
High court won’t review ruling on student group funding
MADISON, Wis. — The U.S. Supreme Court says it won’t hear an appeal of a lower court decision to grant a Catholic student group funding from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The decision by the high court effectively ends UW-Madison’s appeal process. The university has argued that its funding of Badger Catholic’s religious activities is a violation [...]
Ruling: Valedictorian wrongly barred from speaking at graduation
HELENA, Mont. — A Butte High School valedictorian was unconstitutionally banned from speaking at her graduation because she refused to remove the words “God” and “Christ” from her speech, the Montana Supreme Court ruled late last week.
The court on Nov. 19 ruled 6-1 in Griffith v. Butte School Dist. No. 1 that school officials violated [...]
Tenn. student leads prayer before high school football game
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A group of young people and adults gathered and said a prayer before the start of a high school football game in southeastern Tennessee on Oct. 29 despite a ban on using loudspeakers to lead the event.
A Soddy-Daisy police officer escorted a group of people assembled in front of the stands onto [...]
Divided 7th Circuit: Univ. of Wis. must fund student religious group
MADISON, Wis. — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that the University of Wisconsin-Madison must pay for student activities involving prayer, worship and religious counseling.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 yesterday that the university's policy of turning down funding requests from student groups for such activities violates their [...]
Alito is right: Schools are not religion-free zones
Just when I think religious liberty is alive and well in public schools, a school district does something bizarre to give the First Amendment a bad name.
The latest poster-case for misbegotten efforts to turn public schools into religion-free zones comes out of Everett, Wash., where school officials barred students from playing an instrumental version of [...]
Mont. judge: Religious graduation speech can be barred
BILLINGS, Mont. — A Yellowstone County District judge has ruled that a former Butte High School student's free-speech rights were not violated when she was barred from speaking at her 2008 graduation after refusing to remove religious references from her speech.
Renee Griffith sued Butte School District No. 1 in April 2009, saying Superintendent Charles Uggetti [...]
The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.
Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C. Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center and president and chief operating officer of the Diversity Institute, is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.
John Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life.
David L. Hudson Jr. is an expert in First Amendment issues who writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications. Hudson teaches law and was a scholar at the First Amendment Center.
Tiffany Villager is director/First Amendment studies at the First Amendment Center, which she joined in 1993. She also served as the center’s research manager and research coordinator, and developed the center’s library.
Inside the First Amendment • Religion Commentary | Charles C. Haynes
God goes back to public school
As classes get under way, students across America will form religious clubs, pray together in their free time, and in many other ways belie the myth of the ‘godless public schools.’