This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A school district has launched a war against slips of paper containing Bible verses that a student brought to share with classmates during non-instructional time.
And it could end up facing court time for its choices.
It is the American Center for Law and Justice, in a report by Executive Director Jordan Sekulow, that profiled the situation involving an unidentified student attending school in Killeen, Texas.
"The school district's actions amount to unlawful suppression of religious speech, and concerns over parental complaints are not sufficient grounds to override constitutional protections. The ACLJ intends to ensure that Killeen ISD is held accountable for what we describe as clear-cut religious viewpoint discrimination. Killeen ISD has until May 22 to respond to our demand, or we will proceed with legal action," the report said.
The situation developed when the client, a 5th-grader with special needs, brought handwritten Bible verses with her.
They were confiscated, first by a principal and then a second time by a teacher, "and treated like dangerous contraband," the report said.
"She was left heartbroken, confused, and in tears. The ACLJ has taken action on her behalf."
The girl wanted to share her faith and spread a message of hope and encouragement, so she hand-wrote Bible verses on slips of paper.
She offered one to her principal, "who immediately confiscated all the verses," the ACLJ reported.
"While confiscating her Bible verse slips, the principal misled our client into thinking that they would personally share the verses with others who might be 'having a bad day.' Instead, the principal confiscated the verses and simply refused to return them until the next day," the report said.
The next day, the student tried to give a verse to her teacher, "'Only to be sternly instructed to stop."
The student's mother had explained to school officials that her daughter had a "constitutional right to distribute religious literature and share her joy and faith during non-class time."
In return officials cited a district policy banning the distribution of religious literature entirely, and referenced a website-posted policy that said distributing any non-school material required a principal's approval, "a standard that conflicts with established religious liberty under the First Amendment," the ACLJ reported.
The report explained the problem for the school is its posted practice.
"Not only does this violate settled Supreme Court precedent, which says that a student's religious liberty rights are not shed at the 'schoolhouse gate,' but the policy also violates the Establishment Clause as it would require the principal – in this case, an agent of the government – to decide what religious speech is appropriate. That requires the school to engage in textbook viewpoint discrimination, rendering the policy unconstitutional."
While schools are allowed to place time and place restrictions on distribution of such materials, they "cannot impinge upon a student's rights and create a total ban on student speech."
The ACLJ explained it sent a demand letter to the school seeking confirmation of its adherence to the Constitution.
Or "legal action" can proceed.
