Texas Top Court Sides With Cheerleaders in Bible Banner Suit

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday in favor of high school cheerleaders who had argued that their free speech was trampled by their school district when it ordered them not to display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games.

The court acknowledged in its opinion that the Kountze school district, about 95 miles northeast of Houston, later allowed the banners. But the justices determined their ruling was necessary to protect the future display of religious-themed signs because the district has argued it retains the right to restrict them.

The banners carried various Biblical verses such as, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."

The lawsuit now returns to the appeals court that ruled in 2014 that the cheerleaders' lawsuit was moot because of the district's policy change.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday in favor of high school cheerleaders who had argued that their free speech was trampled by their school district when it ordered them not to display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games.

Hiram Sasser, deputy chief counsel for the Texas-based Liberty Institute, a law firm that specializes in issues of religious liberty and represented the cheerleaders, said the question now becomes whether the school district will continue the fight.

"Are they going to continue to bleed taxpayer money to fight for the right to censor religious speech?" Sasser asked.

Thomas Brandt, an attorney representing the school district, did not return a call for comment Friday.

Previously, he said the district believes this is not a free speech issue because it has editorial control over the content of the banners. He said that the district would not forbid any banners that were religious in nature, but would do so if they contained language that was offensive or in poor taste.

Another issue, says Beaumont attorney David Starnes, who also represented the cheerleaders, is whose speech is being represented. The banners represent the private speech of the students who made them, he said, but the district has asserted it retained the right to restrict content because it viewed the banners as government speech.

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint in 2012 that sought to have the banners banned. Various state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have supported the cheerleaders and filed court papers seeking to intervene on their behalf.

Attorney General Ken Paxton released a statement Friday applauding the court ruling.

"Religious liberty, deemed by our nation's founders as the `First Freedom,' is the foundation upon which our society has been built," he said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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