Ill., Wis. school districts OK to use church-run camp
Alliance Defending Freedom letter sets record straight
Attorney sound bites: Jeremy Tedesco | Rory Gray
“Public schools are tasked with providing foundational education, not engaging in unconstitutional discrimination,” said Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “If the Freedom From Religion Foundation wants public schools to remain neutral toward religion, why is it asking them to discriminate against camps with successful non-religious programs just because Christians happen to run them? We hope that school districts will stand up to illegitimate demands made by atheist groups who distort the meaning of the First Amendment.”
Freedom From Religion Foundation sent letters to several public school districts after they conducted field trips to Timber-lee Christian Center this year. The group claims such field trips are unconstitutional since “public schools may not advance or promote religion.”
But the Alliance Defending Freedom letter explains that “the Timber-lee field trip program is neutral towards religion and constitutional under the First Amendment.” Therefore, the letter says, Timber-lee’s program must be judged by its educational merits, not the camp’s religious identity. For three decades, Timber-lee has offered “the best assortment of secular educational programs available to supplement the public school curriculum and help students learn the state standards it is designed to teach.”
The letter points out that Timber-lee does not require public school districts that use its facilities or participate in its programs to agree with its religious beliefs and that the courts have never universally banned public school districts “from using private facilities owned by a religious organization for any conceivable secular purpose.”
“Using the educational resources Timber-lee offers is in the academic interest of both schools and students,” said Litigation Counsel Rory Gray. “Good educational experiences should never be sacrificed simply because a select few misunderstand the First Amendment.”
- Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS’-ko)
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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.