KEY CASES

Since 1982, The Rutherford Institute has defended the constitutional rights of thousands of people. Many of these cases involved the defense of parents' and students' rights, free speech rights, and privacy rights. Most cases were settled out of court, some were fought in courtrooms across the country, and several were appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. No matter what legal question was involved or how much attention the case received, each case has been equally important. As John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, has said, "All freedoms hang together. To defend one constitutional freedom is to defend them all, and to defend one person's constitutional rights is to defend those rights for everyone." The following is a sampling of recent and ongoing key cases in The Rutherford Institute's 20-year history.

Donna Kay Busch v. Marple Newtown Sch. Dist., et al.

In October 2004, Donna Busch accepted an invitation to visit her son Wesley's kindergarten classroom as part of a special school program intended to feature a particular student during the week and emphasize that student's personal characteristics, preferences and personality in classroom activities. One activity made available to all featured students was the opportunity to have the child's parent read aloud from his or her favorite book. Wesley, a Christian, had chosen the Bible as his favorite book, and Mrs. Busch decided to read an excerpt from Psalm 118 of the Bible. However, on the day of the reading, Wesley's teacher directed Mrs. Busch not to read the passage and the school's principal backed that decision, informing Mrs. Busch that she could not read from the Bible in the classroom because it was against the law and that the reading would violate the "separation of church and state." Read more.

Kathryn Nurre v. Dr. Carol Whitehead

The senior members of a high school woodwind ensemble decided to perform Franz Biebl's "Ave Maria" at their graduation ceremony on June 17, 2006, because they felt its aesthetic beauty and peacefulness would be appropriate for the tone of the ceremony. The ensemble proposed to perform Biebl's piece instrumentally; no lyrics or words would be sung or said, nor did the senior members intend that any lyrics would be printed in ceremony programs or otherwise distributed to members of the audience. However, despite the absence of lyrics, the superintendent of Everett School District No. 2 refused to allow the ensemble to perform "Ave Maria" at their graduation ceremony because she believed the piece to be religious in nature. Read more.

Brittany McComb v. Gretchen Crehan, et al.

During the spring of 2006, graduating senior Brittany McComb was chosen to give the valedictory speech at Foothill High School in Henderson, Nev., by virtue of achieving the highest GPA in the school. After composing her remarks, she submitted them to school administrators according to standard district policy. School administrators, with the advice of their district legal counsel, censored her speech, deleting all three Bible references, several references to "the Lord" and the only mention of the word "Christ." On Thursday, June 15, 2006, McComb delivered her commencement address to over 400 fellow students, families and staff. However, believing that the district's censorship of her speech amounted to a violation of her right to free speech, she attempted to deliver the original version of her remarks in which she shares her personal beliefs about the role that her Christian beliefs played in her success. When school officials found her to be straying from the approved text, they unplugged her microphone, thus ending the address. Despite extensive jeers from the audience over the school officials' actions, McComb was not permitted to finish giving her valedictory speech. Read more.

Marcus A. Borden v. Sch. Dist. of the Township of East Brunswick, New Jersey, et al.

In October 2005, officials at New Jersey's East Brunswick High School adopted a policy prohibiting representatives of the school district from participating in student-initiated prayer. The ban extended to high school football coach Marcus Borden and his practice of silently bowing his head and bending his knee while members of the football team engaged in the time-honored practice of student-initiated pre-game prayer. Although the pre-game prayer had been a regular part of football since before Coach Borden started leading the team in 1983, school officials justified their actions by insisting that while student athletes have the constitutionally protected right to pray, that privilege does not extend to coaches, who are public employees and whose participation would violate the "separation of church and state." Read more.

Hashmel C. Turner, Jr. v. The City Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia

For years, the Fredericksburg City Council allowed its council members on a rotating basis to open meetings with a prayer without placing any restrictions on the nature of that prayer. On those occasions when it had been his turn to offer a prayer, city councilman Hashmel Turner, in keeping with his Christian beliefs, had ended his prayers by briefly invoking the name of Jesus Christ. However, on two separate occasions, the Virginia ACLU raised objections to Turner's prayers and threatened to sue the City for allowing the sectarian prayers, finally demanding that the Fredericksburg City Council take official action to prevent Turner from offering a prayer according to his religious beliefs and conscience. Turner, who also serves as acting pastor for First Baptist Church of Love in Fredericksburg, refused to compromise his religious beliefs by allowing others to dictate how he prayed. On November 8, 2005, the Fredericksburg City Council acceded to the ACLU's demands and adopted a prayer policy that could make Turner's sectarian prayers "disorderly conduct," subjecting him to punishment and fines. Read more.