Posted on 09/19/2005 3:20:26 PM PDT by dukeman
Alliance Defense Fund ready to defend any students hindered by school officials from praying in nationwide annual event
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Students have a constitutional right to participate in the Sept. 21 "See You at the Pole" event through prayer and worship activities, according to attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund.
"Students not only have a constitutional right to participate in 'See You at the Pole,' but they also have a right to tell other students about it," said ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco. "So long as students do not disrupt the academic process, school officials cannot interfere with their religious freedom."
"See You at the Pole" (www.syatp.org) is an annual student-organized, student-led gathering at the school flagpole where students pray for their school, friends, teachers, government, and nation.
ADF has produced an informational legal memorandum describing the constitutional rights of students who want to participate in the event. The document is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/SYATP_ADF_Memo_2005.pdf.
According to the memorandum, schools also cannot treat religious expression differently from other forms of constitutionally protected expression: "If the school allows individual students or student clubs to advertise events through school bulletin boards, school PA systems, general posting of student flyers, or other means, the school cannot forbid the same means of advertising for the SYATP event."
"ADF is interested not only in protecting the First Amendment rights of students, but we also have an interest in providing schools with good legal information so they can properly form policies that respect those rights," Tedesco explained.
"However, if necessary, we are ready to defend students when their rights are violated by school officials," he added.
ADF is America's largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
Free speech works both ways.
I haven't heard too much about this but I understand that teachers and other school personnel have been threatened by the administrators. I don't see anything about defending them in this article.
Uh oh. Watch for flag poles and flags to start disappearing from public schools.
Glad to hear that. I wonder why they ADF didn't include that in their press release.
Like any other employee they play by the bosses rules.
SITREP
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.