On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Attorneys File First Amendment Lawsuit Against VA. Public School for Removing Christian-Themed Posters from Classroom
Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a First Amendment lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of a public school Spanish teacher whose religious-themed posters were removed from his classroom while he was out sick. Institute attorneys charge that school officials with the York County School Division deprived William Lee of his rights to freedom of speech and equal protection under the law. A copy of the Institute's brief is available here."Academic freedom is a core First Amendment value," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "The real question is whether William Lee has the same free speech rights as other teachers."
At the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year, William Lee, a full-time Spanish teacher at Tabb High School in Yorktown, Va., and the faculty sponsor of First Priority, an approved Christian extracurricular club, posted several materials in his classroom as was the practice among instructors. Tabb High School had a policy of allowing instructors to post upon the walls and bulletin boards of their assigned classrooms pictures and printed/illustrated materials consistent with the educational mission of the school, as well as general and personal materials in keeping with the school's educational objectives, and materials related to any school clubs for which the teachers served as faculty sponsors. Lee's posted materials included a poster publicizing the National Day of Prayer and depicting George Washington praying at Valley Forge, an article from a newspaper pertaining to the religious faith of President Bush with a picture showing Bush praying, and a news article about former Attorney General John Ashcroft and his prayer meetings with staff members. Lee also displayed pictures and articles relating to the Peruvian Inca sun god festival, a magazine article discussing the religious motives of pre-Inca civilizations, another article discussing the "priceless gift" of 14 "religious cows" as a religious expression of grief to the United States by the Masai people of Africa, a National Geographic article discussing the religious understanding of souls of Inca mummies in the afterlife, and posters with emblems representing the pantheon of Mayan creature gods. Lee used the various posted materials to educate his students about the Spanish language, culture and religious traditions of nearly all Hispanic countries, as well as to illustrate the activities of First Priority. Lee personally received no complaints from students, parents or staff about the materials posted on his classroom walls. However, in October 2004, Lee became ill and was forced to be absent from his duties at Tabb High School. Upon returning to school several days later, Lee discovered that a number of materials relating to Christian religious expression had been removed from his classroom walls. In fact, one particular display, comprised of a montage of images about a former local high school student of Spanish ancestry, had been physically cut to remove an image of a Christian cross. Other materials which did not involve Christianity or were related to another religious belief or secular viewpoint were not removed. In filing a civil rights lawsuit against the York County School Division in defense of Lee's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, Institute attorneys are asking the court to allow Lee to re-post the materials that were removed.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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