FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anthony Rothert
Legal Director
(314) 361-2111
tony@aclu-em.org
ACLU Challenges Distribution of Bibles to Fifth Graders
ST. LOUIS, February, 2006 - The American Civil
Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, on behalf of parents with children
in the South Iron Elementary School, Annapolis, asked a federal court
to end the practice of allowing an outside religious group to
distribute Bibles to fifth graders during class time.
In early 2005, Superintendent M. Homer Lewis, following the advice of
the school’s attorney, insurance carrier and others, sought to
discontinue the practice of allowing members of the Gideon Society to
come to the elementary school to disburse Bibles to students. The
school board, by a vote of 4-3, overruled Lewis and directed that the
Bible distribution continue.
The complaint seeks an injunction prohibiting the South Iron Schools
from continuing to allow outsiders into their classrooms for religious
purposes. It was filed in the federal District Court for the
Eastern District of Missouri by ACLU cooperating attorney Lenny Frankel.
“Religious liberty is among the most fundamental of the freedoms
guaranteed by the Bill of Rights,” said Brenda Jones, executive
director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri “ And religious liberty is
best protected by keeping the government out of the realm of religions.”
“The ACLU and others have made numerous attempts to work with the
school board to fix this problem,” Rothert said. “Unfortunately,
by one vote, the board has decided to thumb its nose at the Bill of
Rights. This lawsuit is the result.”
###
|
