Tag Archives: ZZ: A.M. v. Taconic Hills Central School District

Kevin Theriot appeared on the Bott Radio Network with Dick Bott to discuss this: NY school treats blessing like cursing. | MP3 audio 26:41 mins

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom: Our children are under legal attack. Across the country, a slew of efforts are underway to punish youngsters for the faith of their parents … to intimidate children and their parents out of any public expression of their faith … and to circumvent even the most innocuous program that might somehow benefit Christian children in school.

News from the Missouri Family Policy Council: “Silencing religious voices in public schools tells students that faith is something to be ashamed of,” says Jeremy Tedesco of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the student in the case. “The First Amendment does not allow public schools to require students to put a lid on their expressions of faith.”

Theresa Lynn Sidebotham at JDSupra.com: Still, the case may not be over. The Alliance Defending Freedom has petitioned for a rehearing en banc (by the entire Second Circuit), on the basis that students of faith should not be excluded from fully participating in important events, and that personal speech and well-wishes should not be shut down just because of a religious reference.ADF argues that well-wishes and blessings do have a secular analogue, as expressed by the entire Hallmark industry.3 If this argument shifts the analysis to viewpointdiscrimination, the standard becomes much tougher for the school to meet, even under Hazelwood.

Christian Post: “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas. The personal well-wishes of a student are no different just because they mention God,” said Senior Counsel David Cortman. “Public school officials have no legitimate basis to shut down personal speech just because it has a religious reference.” . . . Alliance Defending Freedom, one of the largest legal organizations in the United States championing religious freedom rights, changed its name and logo from Alliance Defense Fund last year.
“Our mission remains the same – defending religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family. Only our name has changed,” ADF President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears stated last July. “The change is to help more people easily understand the work that we do and why it matters.” [more]

Christian Post: “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas. The personal well-wishes of a student are no different just because they mention God,” said Senior Counsel David Cortman. “Public school officials have no legitimate basis to shut down personal speech just because it has a religious reference.”

ChristianNews.net: The girl’s family then asked the Christian legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to assist with the matter, which resulted in a federal lawsuit. “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas. The personal well-wishes of a student are no different just because they mention God,” stated senior counsel David Cortman. “Public school officials have no legitimate basis to shut down personal speech just because it has a religious reference.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys have asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to weigh in on a three-judge panel’s ruling against a New York 8th-grade student who wanted to include a religious blessing at the end of her graduation speech.

Religion Clause Blog: In A.M. v. Taconic Hills Central Hills School District, (2d Cir., Jan. 30, 2013), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a free speech claim by a middle school student, the co-president of student council, who was not permitted to include a religious blessing at the end of her remarks at the school’s Moving-Up Ceremony.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: A New York middle school student does not have a constitutional right to recite a prayer from the Bible during a graduation ceremony, Americans United told a federal appeals court recently. The case, A.M. ex rel. McKay v. Taconic Hills Central School Distric