ACLJ Calls On Appeals Court to Uphold Ruling Ordering Columbine High School to Display Religious Symbols and Messages.

Business Editors & Legal Writers

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 15, 2002

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today it has filed a friend-of-the-court brief with a federal appeals court urging the court to uphold a lower court ruling that ordered commemorative tiles with religious themes to be displayed in Columbine High School - where 13 people were gunned down in April 1999.

"This is a case where the lower court got it right and determined that the school must accommodate the heartfelt feelings and expressions of members of the community - even if those expressions are religious in nature," said Stuart J. Roth, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed the brief. "There is constitutional protection for the display of such messages and we believe the federal district court ruled correctly in this matter. We are urging the federal appeals court to uphold the lower court ruling and protect the First Amendment rights of all members of the community - including those that wish to express themselves with a religious message or symbol."

The ACLJ has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver on behalf of parents and family members of Columbine students who sued the Jefferson County school district after they were told they could not paint messages with religious themes on commemorative tiles after school officials invited parents, teachers, students and others to paint tiles to promote healing after the assault.

The school district rejected some messages that included religious symbols and messages like "4-99 Jesus wept" and "Jesus Christ is Lord."

The families filed a federal lawsuit against the school district and a judge in October 2001 ruled the ban violated their freedom of expression and ordered that the tiles must be displayed in the school. The school district is appealing to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel of the appeals court heard oral arguments in the case on February 1st. No word on when the appeals court will issue a decision in the case.

In submitting its amicus brief, the ACLJ filed a motion for leave of court with the appeals court - a motion that is necessary to have its brief considered in the case. The ACLJ has received confirmation that the motion has been granted and the brief has been accepted by the appeals court. The ACLJ said it filed the brief on behalf of the families because of the constitutional principles at stake.

"It is clearly wrong for the school district to play the role of censor and remove messages because of their religious content," said Roth. "Religious speech is protected speech and should not be treated differently. The school district clearly created a limited public forum when they invited the community to respond and the school district is required to treat all expressions produced for the display equally. We're confident that appeals court will safeguard these important constitutional freedoms and protect religious speech by upholding the lower court judgment."

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm and educational organization that specializes in constitutional law and focuses on religious liberty work. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and the web site address is www.aclj.org.