ACLJ Appears in Court Defending a Teacher’s Rights

The ACLJ will be in federal district court in Houston on May 14, defending the right of teachers to pray. We shared with you how we filed a major motion in federal court to protect a teacher’s religious freedom. We will soon be appearing in court to argue for our client’s motion and to defend our client’s rights.

We recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of a public school teacher in the Katy Independent School District (ISD) who has been banned from praying anywhere a student might see her. This is an absurd violation of her First Amendment rights.

The upcoming hearing will determine whether the court will grant our motion for a preliminary injunction, which would allow our client to pray without illegal restraint while the case continues. That decision is crucial to how the case proceeds and will determine whether she can end the school year in peace without fear of retribution. As we explained:

[U]nder this school’s policy, our client is still unable to engage in any prayer in the presence of students or to pray publicly, even off the clock, when she is on school grounds. The policy’s prohibition of participation in religious activities substantially curtails her religious activity. Regardless of whether she is off the clock or not acting in her official role, she is restricted by the Katy ISD’s policy regarding her ability to engage in prayer or religious activity.

Public employees have a right to live out their faith, which is a right that cannot be lightly infringed upon. The Katy ISD’s policy impermissibly censors protected speech about an issue – religious activity – that is central to the protections of the First Amendment.

This hearing concerns the fundamental question in this case, namely, whether a teacher can be prohibited from engaging in personal religious activity. The Constitution mandates that teachers cannot be prohibited from engaging in private, off-duty religious activity. Specifically, it protects the rights of teachers to engage in religious activity even where students might see them, including prayer at the school flagpole before the school day.

This case is about a teacher’s right to pray before the school day for See You at the Pole. But it is also about protecting her right and the right of other teachers to live out their religious faith without fear of reprisal and to be free from punishment just for living out their faith.

Our client was told that she can never be allowed to pray where students might see her. If that instruction is allowed to stand, she can never pray at all. Such a restriction cannot stand. Pray for us as we fight for your right to pray.