Cranston, RI, United States (AHN) – The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a Rhode Island high school over a prayer banner the group says violates the Constitution and excludes students who do not share the same beliefs.
The lawsuit against the school district in the state’s largest city concerns a banner at Cranston West High School that became the center of controversy last summer despite having been posted since 1963.
The ACLU received a complaint from a parent and told Superintendent Peter Nero in July that the banner violates the First Amendment. The group cited U.S. Supreme Court decisions on unconstitutional school-sponsored prayers and the posting of Ten Commandments in public classrooms.
Last month, however, the school committee voted 4-3 to keep the prayer posted in the campus auditorium.
Public hearings were held before the vote, after which there were concerns about the safety of a sophomore student, Jessica Ahlquist, who spoke against the banner.
“The public hearings that I have attended have added to that feeling– that my views and beliefs don’t count, or have less value than those of the Christian majority,” Ahlquist said on Monday. I don’t feel that I or anyone else should have to feel that way at school. The prayer does not belong in a public school.”
The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of Ahlquist, who is an atheist, with the endorsement of the Rev. Donald Anderson of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, which consists of Protestant and Orthodox denominations, and Rabbi Peter Stein of a Jewish congregation in Cranston.
In a statement on Monday, the civil rights group chastised school officials for “ignoring warnings about the cost of litigation and despite the school district’s ongoing and severe budgetary problems, which have led to layoffs and program cuts.”
The school committee has retained the pro bono services of Joseph Cavanagh, a partner for Providence-based Blish & Cavanagh who graduated from Cranston High School East.
Cavanagh will serve as local counsel and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty will serve as outside counsel in the lawsuit, also on a pro bono basis.
Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence has made clear his support to keep the banner, which begins with, “Our Heavenly Father,” and ends with, “Amen.”
“The ACLU should avoid these silly little squabbles and move on to other more important issues where civil liberties are really threatened,” Tobin wrote last month in an op-ed.
“Those who are fighting to have the prayer remain in the school – students, parents and others – I presume that they take some personal time throughout the day to pray,” the bishop added. “No one’s preventing that free exercise of religion. If they’re fighting over the banner and not really practicing faith on other occasions, their passion for the banner is suspect.”
The 8-foot-high, 3-foot-wide banner was written by a member of the school’s first graduating class when students were asked to choose a school creed, school colors and a school mascot. It was recited by students for some time.
In its letter to the school about the banner, the ACLU said, “Even if there have been few, if any, formal complaints in the past from parents or students about this display… there are people, like our complainant, who have been offended by or concerned about it but who were fearful of coming forward.”
The group cited the Cranston school district policy, which says, “The proper setting for religious observance is the home and the place of worship.”
Tobin, however, said in his op-ed, “Why would that inspiration offend anyone? Because it begins with a rather generic reference to ‘our heavenly Father’ and ends with ‘Amen’? The use of our national currency that carries a far more religious sentiment – ‘In God We Trust.’ And I suppose that they hold their ears during the singing of “God Bless America.’ “
The ACLU had dismissed such arguments in its letter, saying it is akin to efforts by Pawtucket city officials years ago to justify sponsoring a nativity scene by comparing Christmas to Thanksgiving.
“Justify[ing] prayers like this one as being merely ‘ceremonial’ or ‘non-sectarian’ … only serves to trivialize what is, at its core, a deeply religious message,” the group said.
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