ACLU Targets Removal of Prayer

In its never-ending quest to remove all things religious from public life, the American Civil Liberties Unions (ACLU) latest lawsuit against the Wilson County School District outside of Nashville, TN, represents a frontal attack on prayer in public schools.  Wilson County is having to defend its right to allow the free exercise of religion in a public elementary school.  The school system, along with its director and Lakeview Elementary School principal, are being sued by two parents on behalf of their son, a former Lakeview student.  The ACLU has filed its lawsuit against two teachers as well.  We represent the school principal and two of the teachers who have been sued for what the ACLU calls illegal acts that took place during the school year.  What exactly are these illegal acts?, you might ask.

The complaint alleges that the See You at the Pole event, which takes places at school districts across America in September of each year, constitutes a violation of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.  In fact, the ACLU asserts that students and others read passages from the Bible, prayed, and made references to Jesus Christ and Christian music.  The ACLU has alleged that the See You at the Pole event was unconstitutional despite the fact that former President Bill Clintons administration issued Religion in the Public School Guidelines that specifically say that the See You at the Pole event is constitutional and appropriate on public school campuses.

Not satisfied with simply removing student prayer at the See You at the Pole event, the ACLU has also sought to stop a parents group that meets on campus on a monthly basis to pray for the school, faculty, staff and students.  The ACLU asserts that this prayer activity also constitutes illegal acts that must be stopped.  The idea of parents gathering at their childrens school to pray should not pose a constitutional threat to anyone.  If equal access means anything, you would think that it allows for parents to be given the same access rights as anyone else, and if they want to pray, they have the constitutional right to do so. 

In addition to attacking the See You at the Pole event and the praying parents, the ACLU has also alleged that participation in the National Day of Prayer is also a constitutional crisis.  The so-called champions of free speech in the past have sought to protect students right to engage in protest activities on public school campuses and keep speeches that are suggestive and inappropriateall under the guise of the First Amendment.  However, when students gather around a flag pole to pray or participate in the National Day of Prayer events, the ACLU sings a different tune.  The ACLU even complained about the fact that students made posters to promote the National Day of Prayer events that were posted in the school hallways.  The ACLU has forgotten that in 1969, they were involved in a case where the Supreme Court of the United States said that students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.  As our Senior Counsel Larry Crain said, The Supreme Court has long held that theres no constitutional conflict when students exercise their freedom of religion in public settingseven in public schools.

Still not satisfied with simply removing prayer activities, the ACLU has also attacked the school districts annual Christmas concert.  Specifically, the ACLU actually alleges in their complaint that, The Plaintiffs had no objection and were not offended by the Christmas program until its conclusion.  They went on to allege that at the conclusion of the program, several kindergarten students role-played a nativity scene of the birth of Jesus.  Then students had the audacity to sing Away in the Manger and Joy to the World, which are, according to the ACLU, exclusively Christian in nature, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.  Most of us understand that a school doesnt endorse everything it fails to censor.  School programs that include the singing of songs like Away in the Manger and have a live nativity scene are common throughout the United States and, indeed, around the world.   The ACLU has, once again, shown its desire to engage in censorship.

We are hopeful that the ACLU will not succeed in its lawsuit. We will vigorously defend the rights of students to engage in religious expression on public school campuses, and we will certainly PRAY for the right result.