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Court hears arguments about Candy Cane case
By Stephanie Flemmons, Staff Writer
A federal court of appeals finished hearing arguments Wednesday about Plano schools banning religious material and religious expression while in the classroom.
According to Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute, the case began about five years ago when an 8-year-old boy wanted to hand out candy cane pencils with a religious poem attached describing the symbolism between candy canes and Christmas. During the winter party at Thomas Elementary School, the 8-year-old and his father were told they could not come inside the classroom with the religious material.
Shackelford said that is an obvious act of discrimination and a violation of constitutional rights.
When the candy cane incident came to light across the city, Shackelford said many families contacted his firm describing other Plano ISD incidents that happened to their children.
Shackelford said he learned elementary students were banned from passing pencils if they mention God, handing out invitations for church-related events, writing Merry Christmas on cards mailed to soldiers in Iraq and a slew of other incidents.
Richard Abernathy, PISD’s attorney, said the district does not believe Liberty Legal Institute’s version of the story.
“We are denying their facts,” he states. “They have made a lot of false accusations and written them like they are true.”
Now the case has focused on a policy applied throughout the district that bans elementary students from distributing any non-curricular materials during school hours inside the classroom, hallway and cafeteria. The policy does allow students to pass out personal materials at recess, up to 30 minutes before school begins and up to 30 minutes after.
The arguments heard in the federal court between both sides were focused on determining whether this policy violates constitutional rights.
“They are banning freedom of speech everywhere,” Shackelford said. “This policy won’t allow a student to pass a book to another student even if it’s Moby Dick. They want to control what students hand or express to one another. Banning speech without even a disruption occurring is unconstitutional.”
Abernathy said there are numerous opportunities for elementary students to pass out any information, even religious in nature, before or after school or while at recess. He said the district does not ban Christmas and they even display Christmas trees around the holidays.
“Isn’t education important in this country,” he asked. “We can worry about handing out birthday invitations on the weekends and church Sunday and Wednesday nights. If Moby Dick is not part of the curriculum then no, they can’t pass it around while in the classroom. School is a place to learn. I think we should be applauded for what we do.”
Abernathy said the district does not allow elementary students to pass around material while in the halls or classroom because he believes those are times students are learning social skills.
“While in the hallways, students are learning how to stay in line, be quiet and follow rules, which teaches them social aspects of life,” he said. “And teachers have 30 minutes to get their students to the cafeteria, through the line, fed and cleaned up. A little boy will take 10 minutes to decide between green peas and mashed potatoes if you let him.”
The final decision on whether the policy violates constitutional rights lies in the hands of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. A panel of judges will determine the standard of law.
“We believe the argument went very well,” Abernathy said. “We believe and hope the court will uphold the policy.”
Contact Stephanie Flemmons at sflemmons@acnpapers.com
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
LanceJ wrote on Aug 6, 2009 6:32 PM:
" These people need to stop wasting everyone's time and the taxpayers' money! They have every right to have their own religious beliefs; however, the classroom is not the place for them to promote it. Teachers have enough to deal with it already without having to serve as mediators for religious arguments. Get a life, people! "
planoguy wrote on Aug 6, 2009 11:22 PM:
" Thank you LanceJ, These are the same people who would sue the schools if someone passed out wica information. "
planofamily wrote on Aug 9, 2009 10:12 AM:
" PISD and their policies is the exact reason my children go to a private school "
LanceJ wrote on Aug 18, 2009 7:59 PM:
" I can see why private schools are becoming more appealing to people. Organizations such as Liberty Legal and the people behind them are going to make good public education a thing of the past, because all of the money is going towards legal fees rather than into the classroom. Meanwhile, LL is raking in the bucks! "
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