There’s an ongoing lawsuit against Louisiana’s Bossier Parish School Board and Superintendent Scott Smith, filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, claiming that the District has violated the Constitution in a number of different ways.
For example, Smith mandated that all football players stand during the National Anthem, preventing any form of a peaceful protest. There are Christian prayers recited over the loudspeakers before football games, something the Supreme Court has already ruled is illegal. School events are held at churches, choir performances include (almost exclusively) Christian worship music, Creationism is promoted in the classroom, etc.
Any one of those things would be a problem. This District is doing all of them. That’s why a coalition of six different atheist groups warned Smith about the concerns, and that’s why AU ultimately filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four families with students in the District.
We’re still waiting for a ruling, but there was an interesting motion filed in the case recently and it’s worth talking about. It’s not about substance, it’s not about additional claims of First Amendment violations.
Rather, it’s a request to keep the plaintiffs anonymous because Christians have started to threaten their lives.
In the request, which the District did not oppose, AU’s lawyers ask for their plaintiffs’ identities to be kept secret except to the other side’s attorneys and the Court (when appropriate). No public documents, then, will include their names.
Read the full story at the Friendly Atheist Blog
