Religion & American Law

In Kansas, a seventh-grade student at Robert E. Clark Middle School wanted to distribute and post fliers that advertised a religious event. The event is called “See You at the Pole,” involving a student-led prayer performed around the flagpole before the school day. Even though many other fliers have been allowed to be distributed and posted in the school, this student was prohibited from doing so.

            The Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit for the student, as her First Amendment rights concerning freedom of religion and free speech had been violated. They argued that students should not have to surrender their constitutional rights in the public school. The freedom of speech cannot be discriminated based on its viewpoint, which in this case was religious. The school allows all kinds of fliers to be posted within the school, including a poster of Lil’ Wayne that contained the phrase “Good Kush and Alcohol.” Also, the religiously oriented fliers did not have any great impact that would hinder the progression and order of the school day. Alliance Defending Freedom, therefore, believed that the school policy should be altered to allow the students their constitutionally protected rights.

            The issue here is whether this school policy of banning the distribution of religious materials violates the students’ rights of free speech and free exercise of religion as stated in the First Amendment. Although the school is allowed to set policies to monitor the students’ behavior, students should not be expected to give up their constitutionally protected rights while in the school domain. While the rules set are formed to maintain order throughout the school, the students should still be allowed some freedom, especially in situations concerning their constitutionally given rights.

            From the school’s viewpoint, I can see that this policy may have been put in place in order to avoid any sort of establishment or endorsement of religion. However, this policy functions more closely to an act of hostility towards religion. The policy singles out religion as the only subject of materials that is banned from dispersal. Therefore, the concern of this case is based on the individual students’ rights to free speech and free exercise of religion as opposed to any issues of establishment.

            There have been several cases that have dealt with free speech and free exercise of religion within the school setting. One example is Westside Community School v. Mergens (1990). In this case, a group of students was prohibited from forming an after-school Christian club. The Supreme Court ruled that the formation of this club was not a form of establishment and the students were protected by the Equal Access Act, which provides all students the ability to express themselves as they please, whether it is religiously related or not. If all other clubs are allowed, the school cannot deny a religious group to form a club as well. Similarly, in Rosenberger v. University of Virginia(1994), a student group that distributed publications from the Christian perspective was denied finance for publishing costs. The Supreme Court decided that denying financial subsidy to the religious publication violated the students’ First Amendment rights. Because the University funded all other publications promoting free speech, it was unconstitutional to discriminate against this specific group based on the religious content.

            These two cases and the one described here all commonly pertain to the issue of viewpoint discrimination. In these cases, the policies that had been established and the actions of the schools were prejudiced against a religious view. Even though all other groups or clubs were allowed to convene or distribute materials advertising their events, the religious groups were specifically discriminated, which is a violation of the students’ First Amendment rights. All students are entitled to their rights to free speech and the free exercise of their religions. The student at Robert E. Clark Middle School should be allowed to distribute pamphlets and advertise the religious ideas and events just as any other student is allowed to express his or her views on any other type of subject matter. Even though in some cases, such as Westside Community School v. Mergens, the school authorities might fear establishment, the overriding issue is the violation of appropriately allowing the students their First Amendment rights. The actions of the students are a reflection of the students themselves, and the schools should encourage the sharing of their diverse beliefs instead of regulating them.

            No decision on this case has been reported yet, but how do you think the court should decide? Do you think that the school policy should be changed to allow distribution of religious materials in school? Or do you think that the policy should remain the way it is because there is a legitimate fear of establishment?