Court rulings are clear
Schools must say no to Gideons
by Paul Blume General Counsel
Published in the May 2008 issue of The Report Card

Every year Kristen and I get calls from school officials who have been asked by representatives of Gideons International whether they may distribute Bibles to the young’uns in school. Our answer is always the same: No.

Not that we like the answer any more than you do, but one of our major jobs, as we see it, is to try to keep you out of court. When you’re going to lose the lawsuit that’s bearing down on you, there is even more urgency to that task – which brings us to the touchy subject of religion in the schools. Pardon me while I duck.

A normal person with normal reading and comprehension skills would think that religious expression would be the most protected type of expression, if he were to make a quick review of the Constitution, particularly of the First Amendment. You find in that one short amendment, among other things, but for our purposes: protection of speech, protection of religious exercises, and the prohibition against the government from making any law on the establishment of religion. Sounds pretty good.

But welcome to reality. The courts have made the “Establishment Clause” a means of prohibiting religious expression by any governmental organization, including public schools, by saying that just about any religious expression by or within a governmental entity constitutes an “establishment of religion” and, therefore, must not be permitted.

Which brings us back to our friends, the Gideons. Now, the courts have held this position for some years, so it’s no surprise to the Gideons when you tell them that going into the classroom during the school day and handing out Bibles won’t happen. They still ask, hopeful, I suppose, that you don’t know what’s been happening in Religion Clause jurisprudence over the past, say, 40 years.

We tell you not to let them do that because there are several groups, funded and/or active to a greater or lesser extent (e.g., the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Freedom From Religion Foundation) who don’t mind writing threatening letters to you and, if you don’t do as they ask, filing a lawsuit in federal court asking the court to make you stop and – not incidentally – asking the court to direct you to pay for their (very expensive) attorneys.

Just last year the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (which includes Arkansas) reaffirmed its position on this subject in the case of Doe vs. South Iron R-1, 498 F.3d 878 (8th Cir. 2007), saying, “District officials have stated their intention to allow distribution of Bibles to elementary school children during the school day, a practice no Establishment Clause case has upheld. ... ” (Emphasis supplied.)

There are, perhaps, some circumstances in which religious materials may be distributed to students at school, but allowing the Gideons into the school is not one of them. They’re nice folks, no doubt, but they have their own interests, and you, as a board member, have yours. One of your interests is the same as Kristen’s and mine: Keeping you out of court.

Yes, I know it makes no sense. I’ve butted heads on similar issues several times, and religious expression in the schools gets NO sympathy from the federal courts. In one appearance before a federal court, when a district had been sued because a school employee had the audacity to pray at a teachers’ meeting (no children present), I pointed out that, had the speech by the school employee been anything other than religious expression, I wouldn’t be standing before him. He replied that I was wrong. Profanity can be forbidden, too, he said without irony.

So there you have it: A federal judge equating religious expression and profanity. I couldn’t have put it more clearly. That’s the current state of First Amendment Religion Clause jurisprudence in The Land of the Free. So the next time the Gideons come by and ask permission to distribute Bibles in your school, you’ll know why you have to tell them, “No.” You don’t have to like it, but you wouldn’t like losing a lawsuit and paying the plaintiff’s lawyers a big pile of money either.

Previous Article (February 2008): Hey Prez: No vote is actually 'nay' vote

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