NEWS RELEASE
Monday, April 4, 2011
ACLU Files Suit Over Cranston School Prayer Banner
The Rhode Island ACLU today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a prayer mural addressed to “Our Heavenly Father” that is displayed in the auditorium of a Cranston public high school. The lawsuit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorneys Lynette Labinger and Thomas Bender, is on behalf of Jessica Ahlquist, a sophomore at Cranston High School West, who in the past year has spoken out against her school’s prayer display.
At a news conference announcing the filing of the lawsuit, the Rev. Dr. Donald Anderson, executive minister of the R.I. State Council of Churches, and Rabbi Peter Stein, who leads a congregation in Cranston, also expressed their opposition to the school’s display, calling it “inappropriate” and “exclusionary.”
Last July, after learning of the prayer display, the ACLU wrote to school officials asking that it be removed. In the hope of avoiding the need for litigation, the Affiliate waited eight months for the school committee to determine what to do. By a 4-3 vote last month, however, the school committee decided to keep the prayer, 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 lawsuit notes that the prayer, which is at least eight feet high and three feet wide, “is designed to be easily read by students attending programs in the auditorium.” The lawsuit alleges that Jessica Ahlquist “does not subscribe to the religious expression conveyed by the prayer and objects to being subjected to it as a requirement of attending school and a condition of attending school programs in the auditorium,” and that Jessica’s father, Mark, “does not believe his daughter should be subjected to a religious communication and display with which she does not agree as a condition of attending public school.”
The suit notes that a number of speakers at public hearings identified the prayer’s religious message as the reason for urging the school committee to maintain it, and also expressed anger and outrage at people like Jessica who questioned the prayer’s display. In fact, a day after the school committee’s March vote, Jessica was allowed to leave class early in response to concerns for her safety arising out of her opposition to the prayer.
The prayer apparently had its origins in or about 1960 when, at the school administration’s request, the prayer was written by a member of the student government. It was done at the same time the student body was also asked to choose a school creed, school colors and a school mascot. The prayer was painted onto the auditorium wall around 1963 and apparently recited by students for a period of time.
The suit argues that the prayer violates the First Amendment, and seeks a court order to prohibit its continued display at the school. The U.S. Supreme Court first ruled government-sponsored prayer in the public schools unconstitutional in 1962. Thirty years later, in a case handled by the RI ACLU, the Supreme Court also ruled unconstitutional the recitation of prayers at public school graduation ceremonies. In recent months, in recognition of the likelihood of litigation over the display, school officials have sought to minimize the display’s clear religious message, instead calling it “historic” and “artistic.”
Below are comments attributable to the individuals participating in the news conference announcing the lawsuit’s filing:
Jessica Ahlquist, plaintiff in the lawsuit: “The prayer's presence in the school promotes and endorses the ideals of Christianity and the concept of a single “Heavenly Father”. I firmly believe that it should not be on display in a public school and is in direct violation of my and other students' civil rights. As an atheist, I do not feel included in the message of the prayer; in fact, I feel excluded. And 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. 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 and that's why I have come forward to challenge it.”
Rabbi Peter Stein, leader of a congregation in Cranston: “The prayer at Cranston West is inappropriate to be posted in a public school. It has an exclusionary effect on those who are not religious and also on those whose religious practices differ from the language, format, and images of this school prayer. While the prayer is written with the hope of being neutral and non- denominational, Jewish prayer would not use the expression “Heavenly Father,” and indeed for many Jews, this phrase feels Christian and not something appropriate for us to be reciting. I hope that the prayer will be taken down and the students and families will all feel welcome and included in the life of the school. Let each individual pursue their own path of religious involvement, in the privacy of their homes and in the privacy of their own synagogues, churches, and mosques.”
Reverend Don Anderson, a Baptist minister and alumnus of Cranston High School West, added: “Any prayer adopted by a government agency crosses the line to state sponsored religion. Baptists, Quakers and other religious dissidents came to the colony of Rhode Island because here there was no state sponsored religion. This is not the time to be defending a prayer on the walls of the Cranston West auditorium. This is the time to work together to enhance Rhode Island’s rich tradition of religious diversity and a climate where all religious traditions are welcome. The Council of Churches stands ready to help Cranston develop a program that would help students grow in their understanding of various faith traditions.”
Lynette Labinger, RI ACLU volunteer attorney: “It is always difficult to be that one person who steps forward to challenge an exclusionary practice or message and face the majority response--your objection is “ruining it for the rest of us.” But that is the genius of the First Amendment of our Bill of Rights and the unique message that it stands for and conveys, especially now, throughout the world--that we have freedom in this country to practice whatever religion we choose, or none at all, and that Government should not be taking sides, particularly in our public schools. It takes an extraordinary amount of courage for a young person such as Jessica to come forward, in the face of often heated and angry rhetoric, and to demand that her rights be protected, and she deserves the community's respect for doing so.”
Steven Brown, RI ACLU executive director: “The First Amendment was specifically designed to protect religious freedom by insuring government neutrality in religious matters. Members of small or unpopular religions, and people of no religion, should not be cast as outsiders by a government that is supposed to represent all of its citizens regardless of religious belief. Just as important, the First Amendment was designed to protect the majority religion from being politicized and trivialized by government. This case demonstrates the timeless importance of both of these principles.”
Thomas Bender, RI ACLU volunteer attorney: “Our constitution recognizes that parents have a right to guide the religious upbringing of their children as they believe is best, not according to what the government thinks is best, and our society provides plenty of religious communities in which to do so. They entrust public schools with the education of their children, but condition that trust on the understanding that schools won’t advance religious views that conflict with the private beliefs of the student or his or her family.”
Read the complaint for this lawsuit here.
Providence, RI 02903