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A federal judge banned Bible trailers from an area school district, granting a request by a woman who claimed the religious education program violated her child’s civil rights.
In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Senior Judge James T. Moody agreed with the findings of Magistrate Judge Roger Cosbey and granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting Huntington County Community Schools from continuing to allow a religious education program to operate on school grounds.
In November, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the school district on behalf of a parent, identified only by her initials, of a child at Horace Mann Elementary School in Huntington.
The federal lawsuit alleged the “By the Book Weekday Religious Instruction” program violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing religious instruction on school property.
Earlier this year, Cosbey held a hearing about whether the program should be shut down in its current incarnation. School officials argued for a dismissal of the lawsuit.
But Cosbey believed that, while the district would suffer minimal harm if the program were shut down, the plaintiff faced continued “irreparable harm” by the constitutional violation.
Cosbey recommended Moody grant the plaintiff’s request for the removal of the trailer from school property.
Moody agreed.
Even though the trailer used by the religious education program bears no outward religious imagery and uses its own utilities, the site of the trailer, connected to the school by an extension cord and sitting right next to the main entrance of the building, would cause a reasonable observer to know the school district allows religious instruction to take place on school property during the school day, Moody wrote.
“The court believes the harm to the public interest also weighs in the plaintiff’s favor – the local community may be harmed if the program ends (although it may just become more expensive and time-consuming to operate), but the public has a strong and established interest in protecting First Amendment rights,” Moody wrote in his ruling.
The ruling prohibiting the district from allowing religious instruction to occur on its property during school educational time grants the plaintiff much of what she sought. Other than seeking a return of her attorneys’ fees, she sought no monetary damages, only the cessation of the program on school property, according to court documents.
No additional hearings are scheduled in the case. The school district could, however, seek an additional full hearing on the case if it chose.
School Superintendent Tracey Shafer said the district would comply with Moody’s ruling but would continue to weigh its options regarding continuation of the case.
