Written by Don Byrd
Texas’ Kountze School District has decided to appeal a state judge’s decision after all in a controversial case involving religious banners created by cheerleaders for high school football games. The news is something of a surprise since the School District claimed to agree with the judge’s decision allowing the banners to continue. But school officials claim they need guidance moving forward.
In the earlier ruling, Judge Steve Thomas of the 365th District Court in Hardin County found that the banners were allowed under the U.S. Constitution, but stopped short of saying the cheerleaders have a free speech right to include the religious messages. Attorneys for the cheerleaders maintain that the judge’s decision grants their clients such a right even though Judge Thomas’ ruling does not explicitly say so. The same attorneys also have said they anticipate additional litigation in the case.
“We think the attorneys on the other side are reading into the court’s decision rights that just aren’t there,” says attorney Tom Brandt of Fanning Harper Martinson Brandt & Kutchin in Dallas, who represents Kountze ISD. “The school district believes that it is in everyone’s best interests to seek clarification rather than subject the district to additional costly litigation in the future.
