LILLINGTON, N.C. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have offered free legal representation to a North Carolina school district that, after being threatened by the ACLU, has barred Gideons International members from distributing Bibles on elementary school campuses. Hartnett County School District officials recently banned the practice, a long-standing tradition, after the ACLU claimed that it violated the Constitution.
“A religious organization such as the Gideons is not second class to other groups that are allowed to distribute literature for voluntary reading at public schools,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “The ACLU’s claim that the district has somehow broken the law by honoring those equal access rights is not supported by current Supreme Court precedent.”
Representatives from the ACLU contacted school district officials after receiving a complaint. As a result, Harnett officials made the decision to ban the distribution, rather than face possible legal action.
A copy of the letter sent Friday by ADF attorneys to Harnett County Superintendent of Schools Dan Honeycutt is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/HarnettLetter.pdf.
In a similar situation, ADF also offered legal representation to Cumberland County Schools, located in Fayetteville, N.C. In that situation, the ACLU claimed that the district’s policy of allowing outside groups to leave Bibles on elementary school campuses violated the U.S. Constitution (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4308).
“At no time did the school officials or the Gideons violate anyone’s constitutional rights,” said Cortman. “The ACLU’s continued use of scare tactics to impose its agenda on public schools must be stopped. ADF is prepared to defend the school district free of charge should it choose to once again allow the distribution of Bibles by members of the Gideons and then be sued by the ACLU or any other group.”
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org