ACLU files lawsuit against school system
The Tennessean, May 2, 2011
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday claiming a widespread, unconstitutional pattern and practice of religious activities in the Sumner County school system.
The complaint was filed on behalf of nine students from four families who attend Beech High School, T.W. Hunter and Robert Ellis middle schools, and Indian Lake and Madison Creek Elementary schools, all in Hendersonville.
The complaint alleges several examples of the school system promoting Christianity since 2006, including the distribution of Bibles in at least two schools; a teacher who displayed a cross on a classroom wall; sectarian prayers over the loudspeaker and at school events; and graduation ceremonies for three high schools at Long Hollow Baptist Church.
The lawsuit further alleges a youth minister from Long Hollow Baptist Church was allowed to frequently proselytize at student lunch tables; the school system gave preferential treatment of religious organizations in their abilities to distribute materials to students; and that songs at school musical performances were predominantly religious.
“The pattern and practice of school-sponsored religious activities in Sumner County is so egregious that we had no choice but to file this lawsuit,” said Hedy Weinberg, executive director for ACLU-TN.
The lawsuit, American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee v. The Sumner County Board of Education, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
“We plan to fight this vigorously as well as the allegations presented,” said Wesley H. Southerland, an attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative, nonprofit public interest law firm unanimously hired by the Sumner County Board of Education.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking a temporary restraining order; a preliminary and permanent injunction; an order from the court declaring these practices unconstitutional and preventing them from reoccurring in the future; and nominal damages.
Reporter Jennifer Easton can be reached at 575-7143 or at [email protected]