2000-FEB-29: Michigan: Teacher suspended: Ring Lardner Middle school science teacher Cheril Malinowski was suspended for three days after loaning a Wiccan book to one of her students. The student was doing a report on herbal healing. The book in question is Scott Cunningham's "Wicca: A guide for the solitary practitioner" -- a very popular Wiccan book. Loaning any religious book to a student is a violation of the principle of separation of church and state, because the loan implies school support for a specific religion. Loaning of a Bible, Wiccan book or Qur'an are equally unconstitutional, unless the books are part of a comparative religion course. The school board suspended the teacher for three days. The student involved loaned the book to second student. The parents of the latter student, the Wozniaks, have stolen the book and have refused to return it. There are allegations that supporters of the teacher have issued threats against the Wozniak daughter and others. The Wozniaks claim that the book contains information on "Satanic rituals, pentagrams, daggers for sacrifice and how to build an altar." ₁ [Author's note: The book does contain information on herbs. But it also has a great deal of information about Wicca, a Celtic-based Neopagan religion. It is the latter content is what got the teacher into trouble. The book, in reality, contains Wiccan religious information, no Satanic information, information on pentagrams and on the construction of a Wiccan sacred altar. It describes an athame which is a double-sided knife used in rituals and never used to cut anything other than air. Wiccans have been known to sacrifice a peach or an apple, but never animals or humans.]

2000-MAR-3: California: Unconstitutional prayer: According to the CNV News Service, a Kindergarten class in the Pajaro Valley School District was led by a teacher to sing a song during a forestry field trip. Students sat on the ground and sang, "Where I sit is holy. Holy is the ground. Forest, mountain, river--listen to the sound. Great spirits circle all around me...Ancient mother, I hear you calling...Ancient mother, I hear your laughter. Ancient mother, I taste your tears." One child's parents have filed suit against the school district after they were denied a public hearing on the prayer. [Author's note: The CNV News Service identified the prayer as New-Age. It seems more like a Neopagan or Aboriginal prayer.]

2000-MAR-29: Texas: Demonstration: A "Respect our Constitution" rally was held in Austin TX from 3 to 5 PM, starting at the Texas State Capitol, and marching to the Governor's Mansion. The rally will be in support of separation of church and state, and in opposition to compulsory public school prayer.

2000-MAR-31: Kentucky: Religion course in schools: A Joint Resolution of the Kentucky General Assembly was passed. It would require public schools in the state to include lessons on Christian influences on America, and that calls for the display of the Ten Commandments in schools and on State Capitol grounds. The American Jewish Congress urged Governor Paul Patton to veto the resolution. Their statement said, in part that the resolution: "clearly requires Kentucky to violate the First Amendment separation of church and state.  Moreover, it creates an exclusionary state in which Kentuckians who do not share the values specified by the General Assembly will be made to feel like outsiders in the society around them....Kentucky citizens of good will must act now to ensure that the dangerous trends reflected in the resolution do not fester and gain potency; that the objective of restoring a 'Christian  America' is recognized as incompatible with American democratic practice; and that Kentucky recognizes its duty to  treat citizens of all faiths equally. By vetoing this legislation, you can lead the way in making it clear to Kentuckians that pride in one's religion, if mishandled, can easily become intolerance for the beliefs of others."

2000-MAY-14: Washington DC demonstration: Truth Broadcasting of South Carolina sponsored a "Take a Stand" rally on the mall in Washington DC to call for prayer in public schools. Darrell Scott, father of Rachael Scott, one of 13 students killed at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, stated:  "Legislation and politicians are not where the answers lie -- the answer lies in prayer and our youth." Organizers said that they received fewer participants than they had hoped for. ₂ Truth Broadcasting circulates a petition from their web site. 

2000-MAY-19: Texas: Students' speech restricted: A lawsuit was filed on behalf of two middle school students, Angela and Amber Harbison, against the Lynn Lucas Middle School in the Willis Independent School District, about 50 miles north of Houston TX. Teacher Sara Flottman allegedly took the girls' Bibles, shouted "This is garbage," and tossed them into a wastebasket. In three unrelated incidences, teachers at the school had students remove book covers with the Ten Commandments printed on them. The school district allegedly justified its action by saying the book covers constituted hate speech, and that the school had a policy against students distributing literature without permission. In early June, Judy Thornton, spokesperson for the Willis Independent School District, released a statement saying that  "The district has investigated the allegations and determined that they are untrue."

According to CNS News, "Virginia's Deputy Attorney General warned against crossing a 'constitutional barrier' by [having teachers mention]...prayer in school. State legal experts believe that any suggestion to pray - or not to pray - would lead to a successful legal challenge. Instead, the school superintendents are being instructed to send a copy of the law to each student's home. The law clearly states that the silent time is for reflection, prayer, meditation and any other silent activity. The Attorney General has promised to come to the assistance of any school that is sued in court over this law.

2000-JUN-19: Tennessee: Freedom of speech: The Chattanooga school district sold 300 bricks for $50 each as a fund-raising event. They have been placed in a walkway at the entrance to the school. Thomas Home and family bought one and asked that it be inscribed with the name of their daughter, Hope, and "To the Glory of God." The school refused; the Homes sued. Stuart Roth, spokesperson for the American Center for Law and Justice, commented that the school has "clearly run afoul of the free-speech clause of the Constitution here...Once a governmental subdivision opens up its facilities or its property for a broad range of community uses and expressive activities, it cannot censor a religious message." [Author's note: The message is clearly sponsored by the Home family, and is not a religious statement imposed by the school. The school has probably already allowed many secular inscriptions on other bricks. The message on the brick at the entrance to the school, paid for by a family in the community is analogous to a prayer spoken by a student at the flagpole.  Christian, non-Christian and secular statements should be allowed if any inscriptions at all are permitted. The case appears to be a simple freedom of speech issue.]

2000-AUG-7: New York: Freedom of speech: According to ReligionToday news summary, a case similar to the Chattanooga incident (described above) has occurred at Mexico High School, in Oswego County, northern New York state. Parents bought bricks for installation at the entrance to the high school. One person arranged for a brick to read "Jesus Saves." After some local residence complained, the school board decided that bricks containing political, religious or profane expressions would be prohibited. This appears to be a clear violation of the First Amendment's protection of freedom of speech. The Rutherford Institute, a Fundamentalist Christian legal defense organization, is expected to file a lawsuit.

2000-AUG-8: California: Equal access: According to Focus on the Family:
Members of the Alive Club, a Bible study student club at San Gorgonio High School in San Bernardino, supplied entertainment to students at their quad area at lunch time. It consisted of religious testimonies and singing. Hearing the words "God" and "Jesus," the principal literally pulled the plug of their PA system. He said that they could not entertain in this way because some students might be offended. However, other, secular, student clubs had been allowed to entertain at the quad in the past. Pacific Justice Attorney, Brad Dacus, complained on behalf of the students. School superintendent Art Delgado apologized, saying: "What is good for one is good for all, and so if we are going to allow any groups to be a part of what goes on during those lunch periods, similarly, we must allow the Alive Club." [Author's note: Art Delgado's comment is an excellent summary of the federal Equal Access law.] ₃

2000-OCT-10: New York: Rental of school facilities: According to ReligionToday: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case this winter in a curious case involving the after-hour rental of public school facilities to community groups. The Milford NY local school board refused to rent facilities to a Fundamentalist Christian group, the Good News Club. The club uses readings from the Bible, music, prayer, etc. It is one of a chain of such clubs across the U.S. affiliated with Child Evangelism Fellowship.  The school's policy is to rent rooms "social, civic, and recreational meetings and entertainment events and other uses," but not to religious groups. The federal trial judge and the 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled against the club, apparently because of two factors:

	The children involved are quite young, and might not understand that the religious instruction was not part of the regular school day..
	The Club meets right after school classes. That is, the children leave their school room, and go immediately to another room for religious classes. The concern here is that some children might think that religious instruction was part of the public school system.