Plano, TX- Today, a demand letter was sent to Mansfield Independent School District (ISD) after the school refused to allow a fourth grade student to pass out candy canes with a religious message during the gift exchange at his class party tomorrow.
“Here they go again censoring the ‘Christ’ out of Christmas,” said Hiram Sasser director of litigation for Liberty Legal Institute. “It is a shame that schools districts have not learned by now that these types of actions are unconstitutional and will not be tolerated.”
The demand letter includes information about the First Amendment’s protection of religious speech and asks Mansfield ISD to stop censoring religious expression and comply with the law.
“These are children. They should not be subject to religious discrimination from the government,” said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for Liberty Legal Institute. “Our public schools are not ‘zones of religious censorship’ and neither students nor teachers lose their religious freedoms at the schoolhouse gate.”
The fourth grade student was set to give his friends candy canes attached to the “Candy Cane Story,” explaining that the candy cane symbolized Jesus, at the class party tomorrow. The principal told the father that it is school policy that students are not allowed to give a gift containing a religious theme.
“What will it take for the districts to stop discriminating against religious speech? Last year, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against such actions. What do we have to do to make them follow the law,” said Sasser.
For a copy of the demand letter, CLICK HERE.