curlymae29
11-16-2003, 01:52 PM
Jesus T-Shirts Barred from School Picture
Friday, November 14, 2003
By Sam Kastensmidt
Fountain Valley, Calif. — Eleven high school seniors refused to participate in their senior yearbook photo after principal Ted Reid refused to allow them to wear shirts which spelled out “Jesus ‘heart’ you” and “Jesus is the Way.”
Lawsuit Is Filed
Principal Reid asked the students to either rearrange their order, to turn around, to remove their shirts, or to stand hidden in the back before the photo shoot. Shortly after, the students employed the services of the Pacific Justice Institute, in an effort to defend their First Amendment rights.
The school district claims that it acted appropriately to uphold the so-called “separation of church and state.” The school district believes that a collective message would appear to be a school endorsement of religion.
Carol Osbrink, assistant superintendent, stated, “If they had ‘Jesus loves you’ on their own shirt, that would have been just fine. Individual students have the right to express their own personal opinion and their own beliefs.” She added that group speech “says to the public that the school endorses that message, as opposed to being the beliefs of an individual student.”
Hostility Toward Religion
On the contrary, Brad Dacus, the president of the Pacific Justice Institute, told reporters, “This is nothing less than the school being hostile toward student faith. For these students, who hold their beliefs very dear to them, it sends the message that this is the land of the free—unless you have strong religious convictions.”
He also pointed out that the original picture included Muslim students with headscarves. “They have violated the often misunderstood and misapplied ‘separation between church and state’ doctrine by discriminatorily allowing one group of students to wear religious clothing, but disallowing another group from wearing theirs.” The Pacific Justice Institute is asking that the school district reassemble the senior class and retake the picture with the students’ messages intact.
Friday, November 14, 2003
By Sam Kastensmidt
Fountain Valley, Calif. — Eleven high school seniors refused to participate in their senior yearbook photo after principal Ted Reid refused to allow them to wear shirts which spelled out “Jesus ‘heart’ you” and “Jesus is the Way.”
Lawsuit Is Filed
Principal Reid asked the students to either rearrange their order, to turn around, to remove their shirts, or to stand hidden in the back before the photo shoot. Shortly after, the students employed the services of the Pacific Justice Institute, in an effort to defend their First Amendment rights.
The school district claims that it acted appropriately to uphold the so-called “separation of church and state.” The school district believes that a collective message would appear to be a school endorsement of religion.
Carol Osbrink, assistant superintendent, stated, “If they had ‘Jesus loves you’ on their own shirt, that would have been just fine. Individual students have the right to express their own personal opinion and their own beliefs.” She added that group speech “says to the public that the school endorses that message, as opposed to being the beliefs of an individual student.”
Hostility Toward Religion
On the contrary, Brad Dacus, the president of the Pacific Justice Institute, told reporters, “This is nothing less than the school being hostile toward student faith. For these students, who hold their beliefs very dear to them, it sends the message that this is the land of the free—unless you have strong religious convictions.”
He also pointed out that the original picture included Muslim students with headscarves. “They have violated the often misunderstood and misapplied ‘separation between church and state’ doctrine by discriminatorily allowing one group of students to wear religious clothing, but disallowing another group from wearing theirs.” The Pacific Justice Institute is asking that the school district reassemble the senior class and retake the picture with the students’ messages intact.