First Door on the Left

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has ruled that students in the Plano, Texas school district may only distribute Christian propaganda religious materials before and after school, at three annual parties, during recess and at designated tables during school hours. Middle and high schoolers can also hand out items during lunch periods.

According to right wing extremists, this ruling somehow restricts the freedom of speech of the students in the district…

Court Sides With Plano ISD In Candy Cane Lawsuit

A Plano school district’s rules regulating when students can hand out religious materials are constitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said on its Web site that it upheld the 2005 Plano school district regulations in its decision Tuesday.

The most recent rules allow students to distribute materials before and after school, at three annual parties, during recess and at designated tables during school hours. Middle and high schoolers can also hand out items during lunch periods.

Those rules were adopted after four families with students at Plano schools sued, saying their children had been banned from handing out pencils saying “Jesus is the reason for the season,” candy canes with cards describing their Christian origin, and other religious materials.

The policy before 2005 had been more restrictive and required materials to be submitted to the principal for review. The court said it sent claims referring to that policy back to the district court.

By siding with the district over the newer rules, the federal appeals court has restricted the students’ rights to free speech, said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel at Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute, which represented the children’s families. Previous standards had allowed students to express themselves as long as they didn’t disrupt class and weren’t lewd, Shackelford said.

“We’re glad that the Plano ISD censorship of one kid handing a piece of literature to another friend is now going to be over. But we’re sad that they are reducing free speech not only Plano but other schools,” he said.

One cannot help but wonder if the extremists’ reaction would have been the same had the court’s ruling given Muslim students the right to distribute materials promoting their religion before and after school, at three annual parties, during recess and lunch periods and at designated tables during school hours.

Somehow, I doubt it.

UPDATE (12/4/09 08:54): I neglected to mention last evening that Plano is a very affluent (and very conservative) northern suburb of Dallas. To give you an idea… Sarah Palin is holding one of her book signings at Legacy Books in Plano this morning. Though the signing does not start until 11:00 a.m., people were lined up around the block at 5:00 a.m. To even stand in line, you were required to purchase a ticket. The price of the ticket was the full price of the book plus tax ($28.99). You were limited to two tickets per person.

Note that the Palin book can be purchased elsewhere for much less. I know, for example, that Amazon and Target both have it for less then ten bucks.
 

Tags: First Amendment, free speech, right wing noise machine