Written by Don Byrd
Even though Kountze School District officials now allow cheerleaders to display banners with religious messages at high school football games, the Texas Supreme Court ruled 8-0 today that the cheerleaders’ lawsuit should proceed. The decision overturns an appeals court order from 2014 dismissing the claims as moot because the policy prohibiting the banners was reversed.
The Supreme Court ruled that the dismissal was inappropriate because the County never agreed that the policy was unlawful, and therefore could return to it in the future.
Here is an excerpt from the opinion:
Throughout this litigation, the District has continually defended not only the constitutionality of that prohibition, but also its unfettered authority to restrict the content of the cheerleaders’ banners—including the apparent authority to do so based solely on their religious content. In fact, while the District has indicated it does not have any current “intent” or “plan” to reinstate that prohibition, the District has never expressed the position that it could not, and unconditionally would not, reinstate it. The District’s stance is a significant factor in the mootness analysis, and one which prevents its mootness argument from carrying much weight.
…
[T]he District’s voluntary abandonment here provides no assurance that the District will not prohibit the cheerleaders from displaying banners with religious signs or messages at school-sponsored events in the future.
The cheerleaders argue the banners are student-initiated religious expression protected by the First Amendment, even though they are being displayed at school-sponsored events. But to what extent are the cheerleaders representing the school on the field? And how will a religiously diverse school community respond to a quintessential civic event like a local high school football game in which the field is surrounded with Biblical messages?
School events should make all students and family feel welcome and an equal participant. Regardless of whether courts in Texas determine (and perhaps now that the suit is moving forward again we will find out) that such banners are lawful, they are a bad idea.
See previous posts on this story, which dates back to the middle of 2013, here, here, here, and here.
