California Middle School Ends Censorship of Christian Club's Speech
Officials Heed ADF's Advice, Drop 'Special Restrictions' on Religious Student Group 
By Jim Brown
March 10, 2006
(AgapePress) - A lawsuit threat from a pro-family group has prompted a California school to drop its restrictions on a Christian student club and allow the group to operate on equal terms with other student organizations without having to censor its religious expression.
"Students In Touch," a Christian student group at Madrona Middle School in Torrance, had been told it could not have a religious name or mention any of its religious activities, including Bible study, in its school-wide announcements. The school did not oppose these restrictions on any other club, so the Christian group contacted the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a legal alliance dedicated to defending religious liberty.
The legal advocacy organization sent a letter to Madrona Middle School on behalf of the Christian club's founder, Sarah Kovar, informing the administration that her equal access and First Amendment rights were being violated. ADF staff counsel Tim Chandler, who wrote this letter in an effort to clarify the law for the school officials, notes that the law "does not require religious students to suppress their message."
After receiving the letter, Principal Ron Alatorre dropped the special restrictions on the Christian club's speech and access. Chandler commends Madrona Middle School's principal and other school officials, who are now, he notes, no longer ignorant of the U.S. Constitution's protections with regard to religious expression.
The school's administrators should be commended for their change of heart and "willingness to allow all students to exercise their free speech and equal access rights," the attorney says. Initially, the school officials "just had a fear maybe that some people would be offended or that [allowing the Christian club's expression] would be misperceived as them endorsing the club," he explains.
However, that fear was unfounded Chandler emphasizes, since "the courts have been clear that, where there is fear of misperception, the school's role is to educate the students and the parents on what the First Amendment means and the difference between student speech and school speech."
The ADF spokesman says Madrona Middle School did not start out discriminating against the Christian student organization. "The school originally allowed the club to have a Christian name and to make the Christian-themed announcements, which were the restrictions that were later imposed," he says.
Students in Touch meets weekly during the lunch period in an empty classroom provided by a teacher. The group's leader requested and received permission for the club's formation by acquiring approval from the Madrona Student Council and from Principal Alatorre, according to school protocol.
It was only after "a couple of students complained about it to the principal" that Alatorre decided to impose these special restrictions, Chandler says, "probably to avoid any appearance that the school was endorsing a religious club." But now that the restrictions have been lifted, he says the principal and other school officials are to be commended for "immediately seeking the best for their students" and allowing all students to exercise their free speech and equal access rights.
California Middle School Ends Censorship of Christian Club's Speech
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