ADF: Mich. school district on solid ground to allow Easter egg hunt fliers
Letter affirms Dearborn policy is constitutional
Attorney sound bites: Rory Gray | Jeremy Tedesco
DEARBORN, Mich. — Alliance Defending Freedom sent Dearborn Public Schools a letter this week affirming the district’s policy of allowing the distribution of fliers for an Easter egg hunt being held at a church. The district received misguided and inaccurate complaints that allowing distribution of the fliers is unconstitutional when, in fact, prohibiting the fliers is what would violate the First Amendment.“Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Rory Gray. “Numerous courts around the country have affirmed the constitutionality of allowing the distribution of fliers just like these. In fact, allowing the fliers of other students and community groups but singling out faith-based speech and literature for censorship is what violates the First Amendment. We encourage Dearborn Public Schools to continue to refuse to discriminate against religious speech.”
A parent complained to Dearborn Public Schools about fliers promoting an “Eggstravaganza” Easter egg hunt at Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church after they were distributed to students as part of a district program that allows a variety of community groups to distribute such literature.
The ADF letter explains that “the First Amendment does not permit public schools to exclude churches from literature distribution…. We commend the school district for respecting citizens’ freedom of speech and for properly teaching students to tolerate opposing views.”
The letter also points out that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over the state of Michigan, has said that the “separation of church and state” is an “extra-constitutional construct [that] has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state.”
“The Dearborn situation is yet another example of the incredible amount of misinformation that exists about what the First Amendment truly protects,” added Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “Churches have no less of a voice than any other group that benefits the community. Under the First Amendment’s religion clauses, faith-based speech is fully protected.”
- Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS’-koh)
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ABOUT Rory Gray
Rory Gray, Esq., serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he plays a strategic role on the Appellate Advocacy Team. Since joining ADF in 2011, Gray has worked diligently on key cases to preserve religious freedom and free speech in America. He has served as a member of the main litigation teams in Thomas More Law Center v. Bonta, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer,Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, and Reed v. Town of Gilbert. Additionally, Gray has written briefs at all levels of federal and state courts, including an amicus brief in Newdow v. Congress of the United States, in which the Second Circuit upheld the use of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” on U.S. currency. Gray earned his J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude in 2007. Before graduating, he completed the ADF leadership development program to become a Blackstone Fellow in 2005. After law school, Gray clerked for the Hon. Bobby R. Baldock on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit from 2007-2009 and for the Hon. G. Steven Agee on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit from 2009-2011. A member of the state bars of Georgia, Arizona, and Virginia, Gray is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and various appellate and trial courts.