Mississippi
Atheist group, Rankin schools settle prayer suit
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — An atheist group and the Rankin County School District have settled a lawsuit over allegations that high school students were forced to attend on-campus programs where fellow students urged them to turn to Jesus for hope and eternal life.
The district had denied that assemblies were mandatory and said they were legal.
A lawsuit filed in April by the American Humanist Association asked a federal judge to prohibit the Rankin County School District from having religious assemblies.
In court filing Nov. 22 in U.S. District Court in Jackson, the school district agreed to comply with its Religion in Public Schools Policy.
School board attorney John G. Corlew said Tuesday that the policy was adopted in July.
“The school board enacted a policy to make it crystal clear it did not sponsor religious activities. It is very difficult for school systems to carefully guard First Amendment Rights including the rights of student and others to practice religion and not interfere with religion.
“When this issue arose, the school board immediately took action and crafted a very careful policy so that nobody would be in either position. They’re not in the business of religion; they are in the business of educating children. They decided the best thing to do was put this behind them.”
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of a 16-year-old Northwest Rankin junior named only as M.B. in the complaint.
William Burgess, legal coordinator of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center, said in a statement Tuesday that there was evidence shown that Christian assemblies were endorsed and organized by the school.
“We are pleased that the school’s administrators have admitted that they violated the Constitution and agreed to continuing court oversight to prevent future violations,” Burgess said. “To continue to deny a constitutional violation had taken place was untenable.”
School officials said the April 10 assembly wasn’t explicitly religious.
But a cellphone video taken by a student and provided to Associated Press by the atheist group shows otherwise. A group of students, described by school officials as senior boys, discuss their history of personal problems. About seven minutes into the program, when talking about how they turned their lives around, one says “We find our hope in Jesus Christ.”
One of program leaders also tells students: “We know it is not cool for us to stand up here and tell you that we follow Jesus. But that’s OK. Because we care about you so much that there is no way that we could graduate from high school and have a hope that we believe is for eternity and not share it with you guys.”
The lawsuit described the students as representatives of Pinelake Church, the largest Southern Baptist church in Mississippi. The church’s main campus is in Flowood near the school.
