ASHLAND, Ky. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund today appealed an order restricting the constitutional rights of students to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. ADF attorneys contend that the order refused to protect the free speech rights of students in schools, ignoring well-settled law that says students cannot be censored merely because they are expressing views with which the school disagrees.
“Students have the right to discuss their view that homosexual behavior is wrong,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Kevin Theriot. “The judge’s ruling was not in compliance with the First Amendment and not in conformity with the weight of case law on the free speech and religious expression rights of students.”
On Feb. 17 in the case
Morrison v. Board of Education of Boyd County, a federal judge refused to protect the free speech rights of students in Boyd County schools. The court also held that students have no right to opt out of the school district’s diversity training sessions that came about as the result of the settlement of another lawsuit filed against the Boyd County Board of Education by the Boyd County High School Gay-Straight Alliance, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.
“It’s just the latest in a disturbing trend in the courts concerning parental rights. The school district is attempting to change the beliefs of students without their parents’ consent,” Theriot said. “The provisions of any settlement arrangement must respect the constitutional rights of students.”
“In essence, the only option the court’s ruling has allowed is for parents to accept public school indoctrination or take a hike,” Theriot explained. “This is no option at all for a great number of parents who do not possess the means to home school and cannot afford private education. Rulings like these disproportionately impact the poor by institutionalizing them in what are quickly becoming re-education camps rather than places of learning.”
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org