ADF to S.D. school: Ignore empty ACLU threats

Bibles are a constitutional part of inclusive literature distribution program, cannot be singled out for exclusion

Tuesday, May 20, 2014
MILLER, S.D. — Alliance Defending Freedom sent Miller School District in South Dakota a letter Monday after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened the school for allowing Gideon Bibles to be distributed. The letter corrects the ACLU’s misinformation that such distribution is unconstitutional by explaining that courts have upheld neutral policies that allow Gideon Bibles to be distributed along with other literature.
 
“Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Litigation Staff Counsel Rory Gray. “That’s why schools frequently allow a wide array of groups to distribute literature of various sorts to students. Singling out the Gideons while allowing other groups to distribute literature would be clearly unconstitutional.”
 
The ADF letter explains that “federal case law consistently affirms private organizations’ right to share religious literature at public schools on equal terms with those promoting non-religious material.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over South Dakota, has agreed with federal precedent permitting “school districts to allow community groups, like the Gideons, to make Bibles and other religious materials available to students.”
 
The letter also notes that the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 4th and 6th Circuits have upheld the Gideons’ right to distribute literature to public school students on equal terms with secular groups.
 
“The First Amendment does not allow religious speech to be singled out for discrimination,” added Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “South Dakota schools should not allow the ACLU to brow beat them into a constitutional violation.”
 
·         Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS’-koh)
 
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
 
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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.


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