Owasso Kids For Christ Sues Owasso Public Schools, Claiming Censorship And Discrimination

A religious student group has filed suit in federal court against Oklahoma's Owasso Public Schools, claiming that the district has violated the group's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Owasso Kids for Christ, a youth bible club, meets weekly at Northeast Elementary before the school day starts. The group, with representative help from the Alliance Defense Fund, is arguing that OPS is denying them of their rights to free speech and exercise and rights to due process and equal protection by no longer permitting the students to promote their events at school through materials like flyers.

The lawsuit claims that "the overbreadth of the district's policy and practice chills the speech of community groups who seek to engage in private religious expression" by taking part in community activities and distributing materials.

The lawsuit stems from an April incident in which club members wanted to send their peers home with a flyer that contained the phrase, "Reaching the world for Christ!" -- a phrase that district Superintendent Clark Ogilvie said violated district policies, World Net Daily reports.

In a statement Tuesday, Ogilvie says "the issue has been misconstrued and taken out of context," noting that the district has not denied access to religious groups in schools, but that those groups must follow school guidelines and policies.

The general district policy notes that "no literature will be distributed that contains primarily religious, objectionable, or political overtones which may be beneficial to any particular group or business at the expense of others," according to the OPS website. The suit claims that Ogilvie said the policy aims to keep "bad clubs" like the Ku Klux Klan out of Owasso schools.

Under the student section of district policy, however, the manual notes that "the distribution of written material shall not be restricted or denied solely because of the political, religious, or philosophical content of the material."

The school district's attorney wrote a letter to Kids for Christ. From World News Daily:

The allowing of such activities to impressionable elementary students during the regular school day and while school is in session would certainly raise the issue as to endorsement of religion," the attorney wrote. "In fact, it is difficult to see how an elementary student could discern that [Kids for Christ] is not endorsed by the school district when such activities on behalf of [Kids for Christ] would be occurring by the school district to a captive elementary student audience."

Still, the group argues in court documents that organizations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and YMCA are allowed to distribute promotional materials and can take part in an open house and use the school's public address system -- access that was denied to Owasso Kids for Christ.

"The school district cannot engage in that type of discriminatory behavior," ADF attorney Matt Sharp told KOKI Fox 23. "The school has to remain neutral in all of this, it can't pick and choose which group it likes or doesn't like based on the religious content or viewpoint of their message."

The lawsuit also seeks a ruling that declares OPS' policy unconstitutional.

Last month, a federal appeals court in California ruled that San Diego-area math teacher Bradley Johnson does not have the constitutional right to display banners referring to God in his classroom. And in a federal lawsuit filed in April, 16-year-old Rhode Island student Jessica Ahlquist fought to take down a prayer mural from the auditorium of her high school.

Quick Poll

Should Owasso Kids For Christ be permitted to promote themselves in school?

Yes! They're just like any other student group.

No! Religious groups should not be promoted in schools.

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Read the full court document here:

Owasso Complaint

Comments

[Barbara DeZan]

11:22 AM on 10/31/2011

Poor,poor christians. Always being picked on.

So, the only place the flyers could be given out was on school grounds during the school day....hmmm....

And some folks wonder why many people are outraged at so-called "christian" organizations.

Keep your danged religion at home, in the church... it has no place in public schools...

Imagine, a Muslim group or a group of Hari Krishnas or Japanese Shintu believers wanting to do the same thing.

Enough said.

[CaptMike65]

12:20 AM on 10/31/2011

Only in Oklahoma. The bible thumping capital of the world.

[menmykoko]

09:01 PM on 10/30/2011

The school should win. Tax churches!

[breezy62253]

06:48 PM on 10/29/2011

Let any other religious group try to promote their meetings and these prople would be the first ones to scream about them being present on school property. Been there, done that in our own local school years ago. I know it's difficult but it's easier to have none present in a public school than trying to please everyone or exclude someone which creates problems! I'm a Christian but have seen too many hurtful situations arise when trying to walk that fine line!

[Travis Miller]

02:34 AM on 10/31/2011

Thank you for being sensible, from a non-Christian.

[SirRealDeal]

06:20 PM on 10/29/2011

I would be comfortable with this if they allowed Druids, Wiccans, Taoists, etc to send home flyers advocating for their religion. Or would the evangelicals object because they are "cults" or "pagans?" For someone who is not a Christian, this would be an affront.

[Barbara DeZan]

11:23 AM on 10/31/2011

Better yet, the Muslims or some off-shoot Islamic group.

There'd be lynching...

[gandalf7531]

11:11 PM on 10/27/2011

If my kid brought one of these flyers home, I'd be on the phone with my attorney about it, and yes, probably sue the school immediately. Not everyone is Christian, and the last thing you want is for the school to allow religious messages to be distributed trying to proselytize for one religion or another.

This group can scream all they want that they're not proselytizing, but it doesn't fly with peoples of other faiths or of no faith at all. This amounts to trying to convert people.

If these kids want to meet before school, great. Have at it. But really, to expect that you get to distribute religious flyers to the student-body of a public school is idiotic. If you want to do that, go attend a sectarian school that supports your beliefs.

[Barbara DeZan]

11:24 AM on 10/31/2011

You and I would be in the same side in court.

ALL religions have NO place in public school.

Wanna praise Jeebsus? Do it at home or in a private religious school.....

[broui]

10:17 PM on 10/27/2011

A couple of years ago, our admin allowed an evangelical Christian club to form, meeting after school. I had my doubts but admin thought they knew what they were doing. It was harmless at first but they eventually became bullies.

We have people of all faiths (and non) attending and working there. They really became a major distraction and eventually we shut it down.

[Endersdragon]

09:49 PM on 10/27/2011

Can we band people from wearing red armbands while we're at it? You are arguing the same way that Des Monies did... didn't work then.

[JStading]

04:24 PM on 10/27/2011

Another school district wasting taxpayer money. They lose this case 99 times out of 100, and the loose the 100th on appeal. You can't let the Boy Scouts, which is a religious organization, or the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) access announcements and flyer distribution networks while denying this group access to the same. It's blatant discrimination and it's wildly unconstitutional.

[broui]

10:32 PM on 10/27/2011

There is a difference between the Boy Scouts and YMCA on the one hand and this group on the other.

The Boy Scouts and YMCA may have their roots in Christianity but one need not join up or be preached to in order to enjoy their services.

Straw man.

[JStading]

11:58 PM on 10/27/2011

Except that it's not a strawman. You can't be an atheist and join the boy scouts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America_membership_controversies#Position_on_atheists_and_agnostics). Similarly, you cannot be a female and join them either. Under your analysis, you have immediate 1st and 14th Amendment violations. Realistically, the relevant case has already been argued and decided. In Lamb's Chapel, the SCOTUS made it pretty clear that you can't exclude a religious organization from addressing suitable topics just because they have a religious perspective. Boot strapping Tinker to that case produces a simple result - the limitation on speech that is non-disruptive is a violation of the 1st Amendment. Case is over.

[breezy62253]

07:08 PM on 10/29/2011

In our school a group would be allowed to meet in the school after hours and if no other school activity had a conflict. They would fill out a permission form to be approved for building use just as any other public organization has to. They do not get other in-school privileges or access to public address systems during the school day.

[VA Jill]

01:19 PM on 10/27/2011

These same folks would be jumping up and down, screaming, and freaking out if the group who wanted access were Muslims or pagans.

[xhawk2]

01:28 PM on 10/27/2011

And who's being denied access? The Christian group. Of course, the school would never go after a Muslim group. CAIR would have threatened to blow up the school and the ACLU would have sued. Liberals support 'separation of church and state' while advocating the integration of mosque and state.

[VA Jill]

01:54 PM on 10/27/2011

Bull. Your bigotry is showing.

[Conuly]

09:12 PM on 10/27/2011

Honestly, the ACLU would be suing on behalf of these students if they'd gone to the ACLU for help.

[broui]

10:29 PM on 10/27/2011

Silly straw man argument.

I am Catholic. I would object to this club being formed in my daughter or son's schools because it runs counter to and likely conflicts to what my wife and I teach them and they learn in church. PUBLIC schools are forbidden to appear to establish any religion. Since Christianity has many forms, one cannot simply create an all-inclusive Christian club. Therefore it is in violation of the 1st Amendment.

There. I did it without defending the Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Seikhs, Hindus or anyone else such a club excludes.

[xhawk2]

12:01 PM on 10/27/2011

If there were a group called Owasso Kids for Muhammad or Allah, there wouldn't be a lawsuit because the school would have never censored the group for fear of CAIR and ACLU suing over 'freedom of religion.' Of course, when it's Christian, the ACLU is a champion of 'separation of church and state.' The same ACLU that sues over prayers before high school football games...except for Fordson High School in Michigan, which has Muslim prayers.

[WndrngHermit]

07:33 PM on 10/27/2011

It seems most people can't seem to draw comparisons between the two. If you do something for one, then do the same for all. It's as simple as that really (or you'd think so anyway).

[Barbara DeZan]

11:26 AM on 10/31/2011

Yours is a very simple-minded response.

Why did you bother?

[HellBank]

10:48 AM on 10/27/2011

It's the goal of this religious group to attempt to condition impressionable young minds to their particular belief--that's what all religions try to do. The question is should they be allowed to do it in our public schools. I say no.

[hawaiianstile]

12:27 PM on 10/27/2011

im with you there. if anything i would say they did what they did because they feared getting sued for failing to separate religion from school. seems the school was caught between a rock and a hard place.

[WndrngHermit]

07:31 PM on 10/27/2011

Please do not try to use propaganda as an excuse with how much is rampant throughout the country (acceptable and unacceptable propaganda huh?). It basically boils down to freedom of speech/religion, and simple fairness, which people cannot seem to wrap their heads around.

[Bengalidan]

02:13 AM on 10/27/2011

These church folks are welcome to their beliefs, but handing out literature as described to the children at school...? I always use a "substitution" test in situations like these. Would these same folks file a lawsuit to defend a group that wanted to meet at the school (just like them), and hand out a flyer with the phrase, "Reaching the world for Allah!". I don't think so. If they aren't willing to allow other groups who believe differently than they do (such as Muslims, Buddhists, or Zoroastrians) the same freedoms -- and access to impressionable minds -- then they are tacitly admitting that they believe their literature advocates for their religion.

[Endersdragon]

01:07 PM on 10/27/2011

And if they call your bluff and let you hand it out?

[Okiemama]

11:24 PM on 10/26/2011

Many years ago in the town of Little Axe, Oklahoma, a Bible class was being promoted much like the one mentioned in this article. A mother objected. Not because she was an atheist or agnostic but because she was a member of the very fundamentalist Church of Christ (in which I was raised). The literature being given to her child was from a Baptist Church and taught doctrine with which she did not concur. She had to file a lawsuit to stop it. She and her family were literally run out of that small town (their home was burnt to the ground). Such is Oklahoma.

[OMG1]

10:55 PM on 10/26/2011

I can guarantee you that if children are carrying bibles to school and claiming to want a bible club..... it is not the kids idea. Parents are using their children to impose their religion on the public school system. It is just that plain and simple.

[Endersdragon]

02:45 AM on 10/27/2011

Is it the same thing when atheistic students create lawsuits over the separation of church and state?

[Steve Nelson]

07:13 AM on 10/27/2011

Nope, nothing the same about it at all. That's just a ridiculous distraction.

[OMG1]

12:06 PM on 10/27/2011

Not the same at all. One group is trying to uphold the constitution and the other is trying to subvert the constitution.

[Conuly]

08:35 AM on 10/27/2011

Sure, maybe. However, these families still have the same EXACT rights as the others.

[OMG1]

12:08 PM on 10/27/2011

Not when it comes to religion infringing on public education. Religion, unless part of a widespread curriculum discussing all religions and myths, has nothing to do with public education and has no place in school.

[Barbara DeZan]

11:28 AM on 10/31/2011

No one is disputing that.

The issue is this: religion has no place in public schools....constitutionally.

[dbrett480]

10:25 PM on 10/26/2011

The district might be in legal hot water since other groups were allowed the same access that this group was denied.