On The Front Lines
TRI Attorneys File Appeal Brief in Defense of Christian Motivational Speaker's Right to Free Exercise of Religion
Montana School Board Withdrew Invitation to Address Students, Citing Speaker's Christian Faith, Association with Dawson McAllister Christian MinistrySAN FRANCISCO--Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of Jaroy Carpenter, a motivational speaker whose invitation to address an assembly of middle school students in Dillon, Mont., on secular topics was rescinded by school board members because he is a Christian and affiliated with an evangelical Christian ministry. Institute attorneys argue that the school's fears about violating the so-called separation of church and state are unsubstantiated and due to a distrust of religious persons and a misinterpretation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. Institute attorneys are asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse the district court's ruling in favor of the school district's motion to dismiss the case, allowing the case to move toward a trial.
"Religious persons, like all others, have the right not to be discriminated against because of their beliefs or associations," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "After all, the right to free speech is guaranteed to all Americans by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
As part of an effort to help students cope with a string of teen suicides and automobile deaths, concerned Dillon residents approached the Dawson McAllister Association for advice on how to reach out to local youth. McAllister, a nationally recognized youth speaker who hosts a Christian radio program and conducts Christian youth rallies across the country, suggested that local middle schools and high schools stage a three-day, citywide youth rally as well as nonreligious school assemblies focusing on respect for self and others, responsibility and making the right choices. DMA recommended that motivational speaker Jaroy Carpenter, a former public school teacher who presents nonreligious speeches in public schools across the country, be invited to address the students. Carpenter gives secular presentations at high schools and middle schools, as well as religious presentations at Christian youth rallies, retreats and campus ministry functions. After reviewing the proposal for a secular in-school assembly, the school board of School District #10 invited Carpenter to present a strictly secular speech to students at Dillon Middle School on Oct. 9, 2002. However, because of concerns by school board members and their counsel that Carpenter's Christian faith and affiliation with DMA might put the school at risk of violating the so-called separation of church and state, the school board rescinded its invitation.
Even though Carpenter has made more than 200 secular presentations at school assemblies around the country and has never addressed religion or sought to proselytize those in attendance, school board members stated that they could not risk the possibility that Carpenter would address religious matters during his speech and subject the district to a lawsuit. Many other area schools that had agreed to hold these assemblies rescinded their offers as well.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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