Looks like some educators do not realize that the First Amendment does apply to students.

A civil rights group has filed a federal lawsuit against the Sampson County school board claiming a ninth-grader was wrongfully suspended last week for disregarding a warning not to express his Christian faith.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund said students at Midway High School were allowed to participate in the April 26 Day of Silence, an event promoted by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network.

The group said student Benjamin Arthurs was refused permission to wear a Day of Truth shirt on the following day and distribute cards presenting a Christian viewpoint on homosexual behavior during non-instructional time. He was suspended Monday after ignoring the warning.

"School officials shouldn't be treating religious students any differently than they treat other students," David Cortman, an attorney with the group, said in a statement. "This is unconstitutional treatment, plain and simple."

According to the lawsuit, Sampson County Board of Education Superintendent Stewart Hobbs said religious T-shirts would not be allowed and that no religious literature could be distributed. He said Arthurs would be "pushing his religion on others" and "religion is not allowed in school," according to the plaintiffs.

A phone message left for Hobbs was not immediately returned Thursday.

Now let's get this matter straight, once and for all. The alleged principle of "separation of church and state" (which appears no where in any edition of the Constitution I've ever encountered) prohibits THE GOVERNMENT from endorsing religion, not private individuals. It also forbids the suppression of religion by the government. Nothing in the Constitution prohibits the endorsement of a religious point of view by private individuals, not even when they are on public property. That this superintendent is so unfamiliar with that fundamental principle of individual liberty is a sign that he is not fit to continue to be employed in his current post.

I suspect that the school district will be paying tuition for Benjamin Arthurs sometime through the end of his graduate school career, because there is no way that this action, coupled with the statements of the superintendent, will be allowed to stand -- expecially since this is not the Ninth Circuit, where they make it up as they go along.

Posted by: Greg at 01:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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