Section: Religion

Tangipahoa School Board back in middle of religion lawsuit
Bibles handed out to pupils, parent says Friday, May 18, 2007By Jenny Hurwitz
The Tangipahoa Parish School Board is facing another federal lawsuit, this time from a parent claiming that the district permitted the distribution of Bibles to students on school property during class.

The suit, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. In addition to the nine School Board members, Tangipahoa schools Superintendent Louis Joseph and Loranger Middle School Principal Andre Pellerin were named as defendants.

It marks the fifth, ACLU-sponsored case involving religion against the Tangipahoa school system in 13 years.
"They're habitual offenders when it comes to promoting religion in schools," said Joe Cook, executive director of Louisiana's branch of the ACLU. "In this case, they teamed up with someone else."

The lawsuit centers on an incident described by "Jane Roe," a fifth-grader at Loranger Middle School.

Last week, her teacher sent the class to the front office where two men, assumed to be representatives from The Gideons International, were passing out Bibles to the students, according to the suit.

The men handed a Bible to each student and said, "God bless you," the suit claimed.

Gideons are part of an evangelical Christian organization that distributes Bibles to various institutions worldwide, including hotels, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and prisons.

School officials had approved the distribution, which occurs every year in the fifth grade, according to the suit.

The parents of "Jane Roe," who are Catholic, objected to the practice, claiming it violated their right to control the religious upbringing of their child and subjected her to religious indoctrination, Cook said.

This type of activity in a public school setting fosters a climate of peer pressure and intimidation among students, making them uncomfortable, he said.

"They're fearful they're going to be ostracized, so they feel coerced into accepting, even if they don't want to," he said.

Tangipahoa school officials did not return a call for comment Thursday.

While Cook couldn't recall any past incidents involving Gideon workers in public schools, he cited a similar incident involving the ACLU that was settled in 2001. A federal court ruled that a school in Rapides Parish had violated the Constitution when it allowed the principal to pass out Bibles to students while school was in session.

For the Tangipahoa School Board, this suit is the latest in a string of legal run-ins with the ACLU on matters of religious freedom.

Among other things, the board has been sued for promotion of biblical creation and allowing prayer led by a teacher in the classroom, over the intercom, at board meetings and at school-sponsored events.

In the creation case, a federal judge struck down the School Board's policy that required reading a disclaimer before teaching or discussing evolution. Prayer at School Board meetings was deemed unconstitutional, but the board is appealing that decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

. . . . . . .

Jenny Hurwitz can be reached at jhurwitz@timespicayune.com or (985) 645-2848.