A California school district violated teacher Bradley Johnson's constitutional rights when officials required him to remove banners from his classroom proclaiming "In God We Trust", "God Bless America", "God Shed His Grace on Thee", and other patriotic slogans invoking God. The North County Times has more.
In a decision filed Feb. 25, Judge Roger Benitez wrote that the school district may not censor one teacher's expression that refers to Judeo-Christian views while allowing other teachers to express views on a number of controversial subjects, including religious and anti-religious.
"By squelching only Johnson’s patriotic and religious classroom banners, while permitting other diverse religious and anti-religious classroom displays, the school district does a disservice to the students of Westview High School and the federal and state constitutions do not permit this one-sided censorship," the judge wrote.
Benitez also wrote that Johnson hung the banners not as a class lesson but for self-expression, which is allowed in the district for other teachers.
Read the opinion here.
