Judge rules for Texas cheerleaders in Bible banner suit
A banner made by the Kountze High School cheerleaders displays a Bible verse. / Facebook/Support Kountze Kids
AUSTIN, Texas A judge stopped an East Texas school district on Thursday from barring cheerleaders from quoting biblical scripture on banners at high school football games, acknowledging their argument that is appears to violate their free speech rights.
District Judge Steve Thomas granted an injunction requested by the Kountze High School cheerleaders allowing them to continue displaying such banners pending the outcome of a lawsuit set to go to trial next June 24, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. Thomas previously granted a temporary restraining order allowing the practice to continue.
School officials barred the cheerleaders from displaying banners with religious messages such as, "If God is for us, who can be against us," after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained. The advocacy group says the messages violate the First Amendment clause barring the government — or a publicly funded school district, in this case — from establishing or endorsing a religion.
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Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott spoke out in support of the cheerleaders on Wednesday. Perry appointed Thomas to fill a vacancy on the 356th District Court, and he is running for election to continue in the post as a Republican.
Abbott also filed court papers to intervene in the lawsuit and sent state attorneys to support the cheerleaders' position that the district's ban violated their free speech rights. The Texas Education Code also states that schools must respect the rights of students to express their religious beliefs.
Cheerleaders rooting with verses from the Bible
"It is the individual speech of the cheerleaders and not in fact the government speaking," David Starnes, the cheerleaders' attorney said, according to CBS affiliate KDFM-TV. "It is not just one girl or one person in the group that comes up with the quote, but it's on a rotating basis that each girl gets to pick the quote. That is their individual voices that are being portrayed on the banner."
Thomas Brandt, the attorney representing the school district, said the superintendent had acted to comply within existing legal rulings.
"The political winds are blowing very strong in one direction but the law says something different. This is not a freedom of speech case," Brandt said, according to KDFM.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is dedicated to the separation of church and state, argued in the context of a football game it was unclear who was responsible for the messages, the school or the cheerleaders.
"The speech in question is government speech or, at a minimum, school-sponsored speech," the group said in court papers. "If the majority of the cheerleaders were atheists, would a court support their `right' to hold up a banner insulting Christianity or all believers? The district has every right to simply prohibit all run-through and on-field banners."
Perry said Texans should encourage the cheerleaders.
"Anyone who is expressing their faith should be celebrated, from my perspective, in this day and age of instant gratification, this me-first culture that we see all too often," Perry said Wednesday. "We're a nation built on the concept of free expression of ideas. We're also a culture built on the concept that the original law is God's law, outlined in the Ten Commandments."
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I agree, it is against the "law", that "law" that's inside the head of lying hacks like you, the ACLU and other aggressive secularists/illiberal atheist lawsuit-loving groups! Someone is quote in the article as falsely and wildly claiming that this text violates the 1st amendment, as if this amendment was an pro-atheist amendment granting him heckling veto powers at all this religious, well, it wasn't!
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, NOR prohibiting the expression thereof!" I'm afraid to break the news to you lying psychopaths, but these cheerleaders are not Congress and they did not pass a law that respected or prohibited the expression of an establishment of religion, so stop lying, grow some skin, and learn to deal with differing points of view/beliefs, whether secular or religious, you disgusting Christophobic bigot!!!!!
When they're not lying about the law and claiming that the Freedom of Speech amendment actually censors anything Christian on public land, they're actually promoting a "censorship-by-overload" concept. They selectively say, well, if we allow this speech, then we must allow Muslim speech, or Satanist speech, etc. all meant to shut down the originally targeted speech! This is how they got the Christmas celebrations in CA shutdown, atheists brought their bigoted attack displays and put them near nativity scenes, and then the local city banned the whole concept because of the fighting (exactly what these aggressive secularists wanted, etc.)!
Anyway, at least they lost this one minor battle, but make no mistake, they are winning most of them!
Show the judge how stupid his decision really is.
This country needs ten thousand more Judges just like him; somebody to stand up for the majority instead of all the whining crybabies who file lawsuits at the drop of an eyelash.
Having a President and Congress who are for the majority wouldn't hurt either.
If you object to something you see or hear something you don't like at any public function; you are free to leave at any time.
And the sooner the better.
Stop wasting taxpayers money filing law suits which not only tie up our Court dockets, but cost all taxpayers; not just those who agree with you; money we don't have.!!
Sorry nut job, it would still be Freedom of Speech and if the character of the population was majority Muhammadan, that would be in context and representative; they are doing that in their own countries after all! But just because a Muhammadan comes here, doesn't mean everyone has to censor and stop transmitting their beliefs and culture, which only benefits aggressive secularists and illiberal atheists in the end which is why you raise the point, the bigoted, Christophibic, hack that you are!
The funny thing is, the text doesn't say anything that already isn't in the pledge of allegiance (under God), but of course you hacks have filed lawsuits against that to get it censored. Censor-happy sick, twisted atheist/secularist hacks that claim the 1st Amendment censors everything Christian on public land, Christmas included, BUT it PROTECTS animated child porn, adult porn, flag burning, Rape'n'Escape manuals by NAMBLA (great work ACLU!), Nazi marches in Jewish neighborhoods!! You malcontents are just sick and twisted at the end of the day!
In a prize fight usually both boxers come out and cross themselves.Then God decides to have one guy beat the other to oblivion. So these girls think that God will make them win by 4 touchdowns? That's just plain stupid.
Sorry, but if there is a God and he or she works that way, why bother?
BS...the cheerleaders represent a PUBLIC school when they are in uniform at a game. No matter who 'comes up with the phrase', using it in an 'official' function is barred by federal law.