Ahlquist v. City of Cranston

The attorneys for the RI ACLU and the Cranston School Committee have today submitted a formal judgment in the lawsuit filed by the ACLU last year challenging the presence of a school prayer mural in Cranston High School West’s auditorium. The case will be officially concluded when the judgment is signed by U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux. The terms of the judgment are provided below:

Following up a federal court’s decision earlier this month finding unconstitutional the display of a prayer mural in Cranston High School West’s auditorium, Rhode Island ACLU attorneys have today asked the court to award $173,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs for their successful work on the case. Federal law gives prevailing plaintiffs in constitutional cases like this the right to recover their attorneys’ fees from the defendants, in this instance the City of Cranston and school committee.

The Rhode Island ACLU today applauded a decision issued by U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux in the ACLU’s 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. In a 40-page opinion, the court found the display to violate the First Amendment and ordered its immediate removal. The lawsuit, filed last April by RI ACLU volunteer attorneys Lynette Labinger and Thomas Bender, was on behalf of Jessica Ahlquist, now a junior at Cranston High School West, who in the past year has spoken out vigorously against her school’s prayer display.

The Rhode Island ACLU has filed a brief asking a federal judge to issue a permanent injunction requiring the City of Cranston to remove from public display a “School Prayer” mural addressed to “Our Heavenly Father” that is painted on a Cranston High School West auditorium wall. The brief was filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorneys Lynette Labinger and Thomas Bender in preparation for a court hearing on October 13th in the ACLU lawsuit, which had been filed in April. The suit is on behalf of Jessica Ahlquist, a sophomore at the school who, the brief notes, has been the subject of “personal attacks and intimidation” from students and others in the community ever since publicly opposing the display.

The Rhode Island ACLU has asked a federal judge to preliminarily enjoin the City of Cranston from continuing to display a “School Prayer” mural addressed to “Our Heavenly Father” that is painted on a Cranston High School West auditorium wall. The request for interim relief, pending a final decision in the case, was filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorneys Lynette Labinger and Thomas Bender. The lawsuit, filed in April, is on behalf of Jessica Ahlquist, a sophomore at the school, who has been a vocal opponent of the prayer display.

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.

The RI ACLU indicated today that it plans to take legal action against the Cranston School District in light of the school committee’s vote on Tuesday to maintain a prayer mural in the auditorium of Cranston High School West.  Upon learning of it last July, the ACLU wrote school officials to point out the blatant unconstitutionality of the display of the prayer, which is addressed to “Our Heavenly Father.”