Suit by cheerleaders who sued over Bible banners isn't moot, Texas high court rules
The Texas Supreme Court has reinstated a lawsuit by middle-school and high-school cheerleaders who were temporarily banned from displaying Bible-themed banners.
The court said the cheerleaders’ suit isn’t moot because the Kountze Independent School District could impose a new ban on religious messages at school-sponsored events in the future, report the Texas Tribune and the Dallas Morning News. How Appealing links to additional coverage, the majority opinion (PDF) and two concurrences (here and here), all issued on Jan. 29.
An appeals court had tossed the lawsuit.
The school district banned the banners in September 2012 after the Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened to sue. The cheerleaders filed a First Amendment lawsuit, and the school reversed itself. However, the reversal included an assertion that the school district “retains the right to restrict the content of school banners.”
According to the suit, the cheerleaders were acting on their own when they made the banners using their own money to buy the supplies.
Related articles:
ABAJournal.com: “Cheerleaders’ Bible banners don’t violate establishment clause, judge rules”
ABAJournal.com: “Texas Judge Temporarily Lifts Ban on Religious Banners at School Football Games”
Typo in last paragraph corrected at 10:50 a.m.
