ADF assures Tenn. schools: ACLU wrong on rights in public schools
ADF letter urges all Tenn. school districts to ignore ACLU ‘guide’ on (against) religion and instead honor students’, staff’s rights to religious expression
ADF attorney sound bites: David Cortman | Matt Sharp
“Christian students and school staff shouldn’t be censored from expressing their beliefs in public schools,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman. “The ACLU cannot set its own opinion up as supreme over the U.S. Constitution and decades of legal precedent. Lip service to students’ First Amendment-protected rights to express their religious beliefs at school is a flimsy cover for the ACLU’s real agenda, which is imposing restrictions that trample these rights. ”
The ACLU of Tennessee sent letters calling on districts within the state to severely restrict the constitutionally protected rights of students, teachers, and administrators to express their religious beliefs.
In the letter, the ACLU lays out guidelines that go far beyond what long-standing legal precedent has required regarding: 1) student-led prayer at school, graduation, and sporting events; 2) participation of students, teachers, and administrators at baccalaureate services with religious content; 3) equal access to school facilities and literature distribution programs; 4) equal access and funding for religious student clubs and organizations; 5) students’ right to participate in events such as See You at the Pole and the National Day of Prayer; 6) the religious expression of teachers, coaches, and administrators; and 7) “objective” teaching about religious holidays.
“The truth is that students, teachers, and administrators enjoy robust First Amendment [protected] rights at school, and school districts have nothing to fear in permitting the free exercise of those rights,” the ADF letter to superintendents states.
“The ACLU-TN’s ‘guide’ on Religion in Public Schools can best be summarized as ‘Religious expression is permissible as long as it is neither seen nor heard,’” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Matthew Sharp.
Robert M. Pautienus III of Brentwood, one of more than 2,000 attorneys in the ADF alliance, is assisting in this legal matter.
- Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS’-ko)
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ABOUT David Cortman
David A. Cortman serves as senior counsel and vice president of U.S. litigation with Alliance Defending Freedom. He has been practicing law since 1996, and currently supervises a team of over 40 attorneys and legal staff who specialize in constitutional law, focusing on religious freedom, sanctity of life, and marriage and family. Cortman has litigated hundreds of constitutional law cases including two victories at the U.S. Supreme Court. In Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, he secured a 7-2 victory that overturned Missouri’s denial of a religious school’s participation in a state funding program. Cortman also argued Reed v. Town of Gilbert, securing a 9-0 ruling that prohibits the government from discriminating against religious speech. A member of the bar in Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and the District of Columbia, he is also admitted to practice in over two dozen federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Cortman obtained his J.D. magna cum laude from Regent University School of Law.
ABOUT Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Public Policy. In this role, he leads ADF's team of policy experts as they craft legislation and advise government officials on policies that promote free speech, religious freedom, parental rights, and the sanctity of human life. Since joining ADF in 2010, Sharp has authored federal and state legislation, regularly provides testimony and legal analysis on how proposed legislation will impact constitutional freedoms, and advises governors, legislators, and state and national policy organizations on the importance of laws and policies that protect First Amendment rights. He has twice testified before the U.S. Congress on the importance of protecting free speech and religious liberty in federal law. Sharp also authored an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of nearly 9,000 students, parents, and community members asking the court to uphold students’ right to privacy against government intrusion. Sharp earned his J.D. in 2006 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. A member of the bar in Georgia and Tennessee, he is also admitted to practice in several federal courts.