Preview

Case Study: The Good News Club

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
179 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Case Study: The Good News Club
Stephen and Darleen Fournier were residents of the Milford Central School District; sought to use the school after hours for meetings of the Good News Club, a private Christian organization for children. Their request was denied because the meetings were considered the same as a religious worship, which was prohibited by the school’s community use policy. The Good News Club filed a lawsuit claiming they were denied their right of free speech under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The District Court and the Court of Appeals ruled that because the subject matter of the Club's was "essentially religious"; citing that Milford’s policy of excluding The Good News Club meetings was not unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination but constitutional

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Tyler Chase Harper, a high school sophomore, was sent to the principal’s office for violating the dress code. He was wearing a T-shirt which contained statements that disparaged the homosexual community. Chase filed suit in federal court claiming that the school violated his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion, as well as rights protected by the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses under the federal Constitution and the California Civil Code.…

    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As the student is giving the prayer there is no open forum as would be the case during public speeches. Without this in place, prayers before sporting events are not considered to be public speeches but are considered to be sponsored by the school. The new policy the school had to elect students to be the spokespersons to deliver the prayers was also criticized, leading the justices to believe the school was still controlling the process. The Court found the voting process that was used by the district of voting for if the prayer would be given at an event and who would give the prayer also caused rival political factions between different religion groups at the school. The voting process would create a majority win over the different religions within the district and that would be the religious voice that all would hear. The policy the district has fails to protect the rights of the minority of students. All the factors resulted in the policy of the district to be…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The appellants argued the decision to approve the resort construction violated their freedom of religion right protected by s. 2(a). Building the resort would drive out the Grizzly Bear Spirit, a spirit central to their beliefs and practices. They argued the Big M Drug Mart definition of the 2(a) right included the belief that freedom of religion had a communal aspect that the state could not…

    • 1270 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Tinker vs Des Moines case is a land-mark case in upholding the rights of school children, and their freedom to express their opinions and views. Many have heard of the case, while others are unaware of its existence. The real conflict however is whether the defendants, John and Mary Beth Tinker were right or wrong. In December of 1965, the Tinker siblings decided to wear black armbands with peace signs on them to protest America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. After getting suspended from school, The Tinkers brought the case to the U.S. District Court, which raised the question: Were their rights violated? The answer is obvious. The school was incorrect in their actions, and the Tinkers rights were impeded upon because they did not cause…

    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eight of the nine Justices voted against Abington School District and one Justice, Stewart, voted for Abington School District. The Court voted against the defendant because they believed that the readings that took place were basically religious ceremonies and therefore had violated the Free Exercise Clause, Establishment Clause, and the First Amendment. Supreme Court Justice Clark then went on to say that although it is obvious the Founding Fathers were predominately religious and that many of the ideals America was found upon are based on Christianity, America was intended to be a place of equality and freedom of all things, including religion. He also said that even though children could be excused it was "irrelevant" because it did not stop the schools from violating the Establishment…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bethel V Fraser

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages

    On April 26, 1983, Matthew Fraser gave a speech nominating another student for an elected position. The speech was given to about 600 fourteen year olds that chose to attend this assembly. The speech contained sexual innuendo. Before giving the speech Fraser received advise from several teachers that he should change the speech or not give one at all. But he refused to take their advice (2). The next day, he was called in to an administrative office and was suspended for three days and was told he would not be able to give his speech during graduation even though he was at the time the salutatorian. The family of Fraser filed a grievance with the Pierce County school board, but the officer upheld the suspension. In response, to that decision Matthew’s father filed a case against the school district. The District Court ruled that the student’s First Amendment right was infringed upon. The students was awarded a monetary judgment and allowed to give his graduation speech. Later, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the District Court (4). Later, the US Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals in a 7-2 vote to reinstate the suspension, saying that the school district's policy did not violate the First Amendment (3).…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Josh Renville, an 18 year old student attending Fargo North High School has petitioned against the school in question for violating his first amendment right to freedom of speech. The school prohibited Renville from using a photograph in which he his holding his favorite rifle for his senior portrait in the yearbook. Renville claims that by prohibiting the photograph, the school is infringing on his rights to freedom of symbolic speech. Despite Renville’s claims, the actions taken by the administrators at Fargo North High were completely constitutional. Fargo North was acting well within their constitutional limits to promote the ideals of public education, to properly monitor any media that would have been associated with the school, and to limit any action that inherently interfered with the school’s disciplinary…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The 6–3 decision of the majority was delivered by Justice Steven. For his majority opinion, the Alabama law "silence meditation or voluntary prayer" was unconstitutional. He found that was just to promote religion. He also found the implication of the words "voluntary prayer" as an issue of the Alabama law. The Justice Steven just focused on the purpose behind the law. The word "voluntary prayer" is not a protecting the student 's right but it encourage them to voluntary to prayer. One of the Judge also agree with his decision, Judge W.Brevard Hand, ruled prayer decisions in public school were wrong because this law is not apply to the states. As many states, they want to have the same decision and to make the world more successful. They both agree with Wallace v. Jaffree that use instructional times for silent school prayer and in public school are wrong. But with that decision, Justice William Rehnquist disagreed with them. He declared and endorses prayer in public school, even the religious in this situation. In addition, The District Court permitted the prayers to continue, because they ultimately held that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment does not prohibit a state from establishing a religion. ("Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)"). But the Court of Appeals ruled that they were unconstitutional, because the court had considered and had rejected the historical arguments. Because of that, the state appealed to the Supreme Court. When the law appealed to the Supreme Court, the Former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart noted that they did it as the establishment of a religion of secularism. Also, after many decision, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren has angered southern conservatives that as many reason they made even more resentment that lead to many problem. Some people of Christian thought it would be good if the prayers at school. But the Supreme Court still…

    • 1976 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    On June 28, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the Pennsylvania case, ruling that according to the religion clauses included within the First Amendment, the state statute violated the Constitution. The Court proceeded to describe the separate, yet interdependent parts of determining establishment: having a nonreligious purpose, not primarily having an effect on religion, and not closely involving government and religion. The Court also cited Everson v. Board of Education and Walz v. Tax Commission when delivering its opinion.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tinker vs. Des Moine

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In 1969, Des Moines Iowa school districts, it was fine to wear the iron cross to support Nazis but it was not okay to wear arm bands to support stopping the Vietnam War. (“Tinker V. Des Moines” 3) When students wore the arm bands they were asked to go home and suspended from school. This set up the case for Tinker v. Des Moines independent school district, a case that would determine the right of free speech for students. This case can be better understood by studying the Des Moines independent schools, students and their policies, examining the decision of the court and, reflecting on how it has influenced society today.…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marvin Pickering was a high school science teacher from Will County, Illinois who was fired by the Board of Education for writing a letter to the editor. The letter was published in a local newspaper and contained many negative and inflammatory statements toward the school board regarding their use of taxpayer’s money. Specifically, Pickering was upset about the use of bond money to athletic programs, instead of fixing facilities and paying teachers. The Board of Education concluded that Pickering’s letter was “detrimental to the efficient operation and administration of the schools of the district” (Essex, 2012). Pickering argued that being fired for writing a letter as a private citizen violated both his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to Free Speech and Due Process under the U.S. Constitution.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Van Orden v. Perry

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This case was significant in defining a new line for the placement of religious monuments on government grounds, holding that it is not unconstitutional if the purpose was to reflect American history and tradition. The comparison of the case to McCreary V. ACLU also showed the “highly contextual nature of the Court’s analysis when it comes to public religious displays (Van Orden v. Perry)”.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The case is Elonis v. U.S. Church and state The Supreme Court decided against reviewing an appeals court's decision that a suburban Milwaukee school district had erred by holding high school graduation ceremonies in a local church, where students and their families were surrounded by religious artifacts and messages. Full Text The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether violent images and threatening language posted on Facebook and other social media …

    • 1015 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Matthew Fraser Speech

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In another case where a student filed suit for violation of his First Amendment rights, Matthew Fraser was suspended for three days by the Bethel School District after he gave a speech at a school assembly. Bethel Sch. Dist. v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986). The student, Fraser, delivered a speech nominating a fellow student for a student elective office. Over 600 high school students, many of whom were 14-year-olds, attended the assembly. The assembly was part of a school sponsored educational program in self-government. Id. at 677. All students were required to attend or to report to study hall. During the entire speech, Fraser referred to his candidate in…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Several students and their parents anonymously sued the school district, claiming a violation of what's known as the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." (The New York…

    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays