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ADF Helps Parents Get School to Allow Their Religious Expression

by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
December 15, 2004

(AgapePress) - A Maine school district has reversed its decision to censor the religious expression of parents participating in a school fundraising program.

Maine School Administrative District #22 recently introduced a "Buy-a-Brick Program" to raise money for a community playground on public school property. The fundraiser allowed parents to purchase a brick and place a personalized message on it. However, when district parents Peter and Sara Alexander asked for a message that included the words "praise Jesus," their request was denied.

Attorney Jeremy Tedesco of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) says District #22 officials wrongly believed they had to eradicate any religious messages so as not to violate the so-called "separation of church and state." However, he notes that Peter Alexander knew better and actually "went to the school board to plead his case that he had a constitutional right to express the message of his choice on the bricks."

Armed with a letter from ADF explaining the law, Alexander attended a school board meeting where he referenced the letter and gave copies of it to the board members. "And shortly thereafter," Tedesco says, "the school board reversed its decision, made the right choice, and we commend them for that."

The ADF letter that helped to change the Maine school board's mind pointed out that two recent federal court decisions "bluntly held" that whenever a school permits personal messages to be displayed on bricks, the school cannot then exclude religious messages from that display without violating the U.S. Constitution. One of the two cases cited in the letter -- Seidman v. Paradise Valley Unified School District No. 69 -- was actually filed and successfully settled by ADF attorneys.

"We filed a suit last year, in 2003, against the Paradise Valley Unified School District here in Arizona," Tedesco notes. "Almost the exact same factual scenario was at play in that case. We had a buy-a-brick program; the plaintiffs there wanted to put a religious message on a brick. All other kinds of messages were permitted except, of course, the religious message. We filed a lawsuit, and in 2004, we got a decision vindicating our clients' constitutional rights."

In the case of the Maine school district, the ADF attorney says the school officials' concerns about including the religious message were unfounded, because the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution "does not prohibit, but rather protects religious speech in a public forum." Moreover, he adds, the district's flyer advertising the fundraiser openly told donors that those who purchased a brick could have the message of their choice engraved on it.

A school board representative e-mailed the Alexanders on November 23, notifying them that the board had decided to permit the religious message the parents requested. Tedesco applauds the board's ultimate decision, but points out that being aware of "what the Constitution really says about freedom of religious expression" can help school officials avoid the costly litigation that often results when they violate individuals' constitutional rights.

Tedesco adds that ADF will continue to provide people and groups with information on the law, as well as to "defend people of faith whose religious liberties are trampled." ADF is the nation's largest legal alliance defending religious freedom through training, strategy, funding, and litigation.

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