After a contentious battle last fall, the members of a high school cheerleading squad in a small southeast Texas town have won the right to display at football games banners decorated with Bible verses that change from week to week. Here are two examples of the verses: "I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me (Philipians 4:13) and "But thanks be to God, which gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).
State District Judge Steven Thomas on Wednesday ruled that the banners - through which members of the Kountze High School football team charge when taking the field - are "constitutionally permissible." "Religious messages expressed on run-through banners have not created, and will not create, an establishment of religion in the Kountze community," Thomas wrote in his ruling.
Thus, a case that brought national attention last September and October to this town of fewer than 2,200 people located about 95 miles northeast of Houston, comes to a close. A lawsuit over the banners had been scheduled for trial June 24, according to The Dallas Morning News.
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It all began when a local resident complained about the banners. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison, Wis.-based church-and-state watchdog, contacted the Kountze Independent School District after the complaint. The organization, which cracked down on school districts in other states last fall for what it called First Amendment violations, filed an amicus brief in the Kountze case - forcing the district to ban the banners.
A judge issued a temporary restraining order in September that barred implementation of the ban and allowed the school to temporarily continue the tradition. At a hearing in early October, during which both sides in the case made their arguments, Thomas declared that he needed more time to issue a final ruling and extended the temporary restraining order. He added that the ban appeared to violate the students' free-speech rights.
"We're thrilled for the cheerleaders because their rights to display their messages were vindicated," David Starnes, the cheerleaders' attorney from a Plano-based nonprofit law firm, told KFDM News. "This is a great victory for students all over the country who want to share their religious faith."
The FFRF has a different interpretation of the judge's ruling. A headline on the organization's website reads "Official school religion OK'd by Texas court." While the foundation was not a party to the original lawsuit, "FFRF would like to challenge the religious banners as part of official football games in federal court if students, faculty or parents subjected to such proselytizing come forward," according to the online story. "It's impossible to imagine a judge approving cheerleader messages saying, 'Atheists rule - God is dead' or 'Allah is supreme - pray to him for victory,' " said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president.
