Posted on 08/02/2005 11:49:31 AM PDT by THE person involved
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
School says bench stays where it is By Candice Cunningham
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
MARIETTA - Despite one parent's questions about its "overtly religious" content and a possible constitutional violation, Marietta City Schools officials say they have no plans to remove a bench from the Marietta High School campus inscribed with the words "Jesus Loves You!"
Marietta Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck said in a response letter to parent David Bernknopf on Friday that the bench would stay.
"On the advice of legal counsel, there are no plans to do anything regarding the bench," Dr. Lembeck stated.
Dr. Lembeck and the school system's attorney, Clem Doyle, were unavailable for further comment Monday.
Bernknopf, a former CNN producer and media consultant whose son and daughter attend nearby A.L. Burruss Elementary, sent a letter to school system officials last month questioning whether the bench's message was "overtly religious." He sent a letter to school officials asking them to investigate whether it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which calls for separation of church and state.
On Monday, however, Bernknopf said he never intended to take the matter to court and plans to take no further action.
"I certainly never had any interest in filing a complaint or filing a lawsuit," he said. "Obviously, I thought it was questionable."
After receiving Dr. Lembeck's response, he said he is not interested in pursuing the issue. Any future challenge to the bench, he said, could be left to constitutional experts.
Smyrna resident Ed Buckner, secretary of the local chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the bench message clearly violates state and federal Supreme Court law, which regulates religious content on public property.
"It implies to anyone who sees it that the government is endorsing that particular point of view," he said.
He said the school should remove the bench or face the potential of a costly lawsuit.
"I think they'll move it," he said. "I think it may require court action to do it, but I think they'll move it."
Buckner said his group was not planning to file a suit but said the school system is leaving itself open for other groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, to do so.
"It's a bad idea to get into the business of which religion is right and which is wrong," he said. "In that lies madness."
"What if the Atlanta Freethought Society wanted to put up a bench that said, 'There is no God?'" Buckner added. "Do you think they'd say 'Yes?' I don't."
Marietta school board Chairwoman Irene Berens said the law governing such issues is vague.
"The Supreme Court didn't give us much guidance," she said. "They seem willing to look at it on a case-by-case basis, which puts us in a difficult situation as far as interpretation."
Just last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two divergent rulings relating to displays of the Ten Commandments at courthouses in Kentucky and Texas.
Berens said she was satisfied with the legal advice provided by Doyle.
He researched legal opinions and consulted with state school board attorneys, the Gainesville-based Harbin and Hartley firm, before returning his decision, she said.
Bernknopf said that Dr. Lembeck's three-paragraph letter was brief and did not clarify whether the bench is currently violating the law.
"It would've been nice to have more detail," he said.
For now, district spokesman Bill Doughty said the bench would stay where it is because no one has specifically asked the school to remove it.
If a formal request were made, he said, school officials would need to reconsider the issue.
The bench, located outside the high school's cafeteria and near the school bus drop off area, was installed in 2001, Doughty said. Private donations from the school's PTA paid for it as part of a large fund-raising campaign conducted before the new Whitlock Avenue school was built.
Other benches are placed on local school campuses bearing messages that include the names of local businesses and the names of deceased loved ones.
The school system does not have a policy regulating the content inscribed on school structures and school officials do not have plans to consider such a policy, Doughty said.
Berens said the school system tries to keep its policies to a minimum.
"You cannot have a policy to address every contingency that might happen," she said.
School board member Annette Lewis said Bernknopf raised a legitimate question that was aimed at protecting the school from fighting a costly legal battle.
"If I had seen the bench there, I would have asked the question," she said. "It was a legitimate question and one the school system wanted to wait and get a legal opinion on."
Although Bernknopf might not have gotten the response he wanted, he indicated that his efforts were not for naught.
"An informal debate on a topic of this nature is always beneficial," he said.
Copyright © 2005 Marietta Daily Journal. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and Registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Oh B/S!! Get a life.
When you put your foot in my faith, I get a tad bit miffed. And when you tout yourself as working hard for your kids' schools, you are getting in my territory because I've been there, done that.
Am I angry? No. Because God knows your intentions. He has the last word, not any of us Freepers.
Oh, so now, it's all right to invoke the name of Jesus? I'll have to start taking notes.
then call the RKBA crew fast!!!
yeah, and he's not real smart, either.
He's also got way too much time on his hands.
(For discussions related to television news that is; I don't know anything about this stupid park bench in Anus Pimple, Georgia, nor do I care.)
Be nice to my lovely state of Georgia, please. :~)
It's THE story of the week. No, the year. We need constant updates (accompanied by severe chastisement, of course) from now until 2006.
Who is anti Christian mister ask alot? Why are you so concerned about the school board since you are not a lawyer? Go away.
Thought ya'll might be interested.
suburb of Atlanta
you know where all you guys are moving and creating these types of problems. out.
I have no quibble with Georgia. :) I was just trying to highlight the silliness of this story.
One of the founders of the Cable News Network, David worked at CNN for over 21 years producing documentaries and covering national political races and breaking news items. As Vice President of News Planning, David served as the network's "news futurist," making decisions on what events and trends CNN needed to cover and assigning reporters and producers to cover those stories. One of his last assignments was producing from the crash site of United Flight 93 on 9/11. David also produced coverage of major national and international events, including the Pope's visit to Cuba, the 1998 Northern Ireland Peace Referendum, and the 1992 Middle East Peace Conference.
David has won three Emmys and numerous other awards including a National Headliner Award and the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award. He is visiting professor at the University of Colorado School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He also teaches at numerous other universities.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
* 1980 original founding employee of CNN. When he left in 2001, David was VP of News Planning for CNN. * 1987 National Headliner Award for documentary on U.S. farm crisis * 1995 Emmy for Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing coverage * 1996 Emmy for Olympic Park bombing coverage * 2001 Edward R. Murrow Award for Elian Gonzalez coverage * September 11, 2001: Produced CNN site coverage of the crash of United flight 93 in Pennsylvania * Produced CNN coverage of eight national political conventions and four Presidential elections * 2002 co-founder of Atamira Communications in Atlanta, a media strategy and training company * Visiting professor and Hearst Fellow at University of Colorado School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Interesting that you don't direct a similar comment to Smyrna AUSSC stooge Ed Buckner.
From the article:
Smyrna resident Ed Buckner, secretary of the local chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the bench message clearly violates state and federal Supreme Court law, which regulates religious content on public property.Mr. Buckner is a tad offbase on several counts:"It implies to anyone who sees it that the government is endorsing that particular point of view," he said.
He said the school should remove the bench or face the potential of a costly lawsuit.
Finally, there is one other comment that might be cleared up a bit:
I don't know why so many of you are so angry at a taxpayer raising a legitimate issue to an elected representative...something the school board is quoted as saying they appreciated.
I think most people here have no problem with a taxpayer raising a legitimate issue to elected representatives. I think the objectionable thing is that you apparently made your question and the school board's response a "news" item and brought it to the attention of the local newspaper there. By making it a news item, you appear to be waving a flag to try to draw attention to the issue so that deep pockets like the ACLU will come in and file the litigation that you say you do not intend to file.
As "Smyrna resident Ed Buckner, secretary of the local chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the bench message clearly violates state and federal Supreme Court law." so there you have it. "Supreme Court Law" has been violated!
Further down in all about Dave: "PERCEPTION IS REALITY IN TODAY'S WORLD"
Well, THAT about sums this whole thing up. He's sounding just like a liberal.
True. I wouldn't ban him. After all, where else, but FR, could he get the national exposure he needed for his boneheadedness. He could be our new MurryMom.
On a lighter note: How's Bobbie Batista doing these days?
Shouldn't you ping MM when you mention her in a post. Of course she might consider it a compliment to be compared to this guy.
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