Plano, TX- Today, S.W.A.T., a student organization, filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against Plano Independent School District for preventing them from listing information about the group on the district website.
"Federal law and the U.S. Constitution require Plano ISD to treat all non-curricular clubs the same and provide equal access to web pages, meeting spaces, bulletin boards and PA announcement," said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for Liberty Legal Institute.
The second lawsuit against the district resulted when a non-curricular, religious student group was denied equal access to the same benefits as other officially recognized organizations. S.W.A.T., Students Witnessing Absolute Truth, a Bible-study group, was prohibited from posting an organizational description on the "Campus Programs" section of the Plano ISD website.
"The website page is specifically designated as a listing of all student groups offered within the school. By banning only the religious group, Plano ISD is in direct violation of the First Amendment and The Equal Access Act," Sasser said.
In the lawsuit, S.W.A.T. asks the Court to honor the free speech rights of the group by allowing them to post their short, organizational description alongside the other listings of student groups on campus.
"This case further emphasizes that Plano ISD has no respect for the law, the First Amendment or even the students," Sasser said.
This lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Sherman, the same Court in which Morgan et al., v. Plano ISD is currently in litigation. That case resulted when a student was prohibited from distributing religious-themed gifts, including candy canes.