ACLJ Files Suit against Washington State for Prohibiting Message with Reference to `Jesus' to Be Displayed in State Park.

Business Editors/Legal Writers

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 2003

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, today filed suit against the state of Washington after state officials rejected a request from a family to inscribe a message on a commemorative brick paver at a state park because the message contained the word, "Jesus."

"This is a case where the state has violated the free speech rights of our clients by targeting a message for exclusion because of its religious content," said Stuart J. Roth, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed the suit. "The law is very clear: if a state permits a wide variety of messages to be posted in a public area, the state cannot reject a message because it contains a religious reference. We're hopeful the court will uphold the constitutional rights of our clients and prevent the state of Washington from continuing to engage in this type of discriminatory treatment."

The ACLJ filed suit today in U.S. District Court in Seattle, WA on behalf of Dan and Olga Buchanan, who live in Lynnwood, WA and were denied permission to inscribe a message that contained the word "Jesus" on a commemorative brick paver to be placed in a state park.

The state of Washington launched a fundraising effort to build and maintain a playground for children in Saint Edward State Park in Kenmore, WA. The state permitted members of the public to purchase for $100 a commemorative brick paver, inscribe the brick with a message of their choice, and have it placed in the playground.

According to the suit, the state rejected a request in April 2003 from the Buchanans to include a message that read: "Thank you Jesus, Daria & Evan Buchanan." The suit contends that officials permitted the public to use a wide variety of messages - including one that read, "God Loves All Children" - but rejected the request from the Buchanans because of the word, "Jesus." In a letter to the Buchanans in August, the coordinator of the playground program, Colleen Ponto, said that "(b)ecause the Saint Edward State Park Playground is located on public land, our intent and unwritten policy for all of the 511 bricks sold was to engrave only non-religious requests in order to uphold the separation of church and state as dictated by our state constitution."

The suit contends that the state acted in an unconstitutional manner because it excluded the message solely on the basis of its religious content. The suit names as defendants Washington Governor Gary Locke, the chairman of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, its officers and members, as well as the coordinator of the playground program. The suit contends the actions of the state violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The suit requests the court declare the actions of the state unconstitutional, grant an injunction preventing the state from continuing its discriminatory actions, and permit the commemorative brick with the message containing the word, Jesus, to be placed in the playground.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law. The ACLJ is based in Washington, D.C. and its web site address is www.aclj.org.