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  1. #1
    Senior Member AlturaCt's Avatar
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    Student told to not read Bible, suit claims

    10/05/06
    By Pete Pichaske

    The mother of a seventh-grader at Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School has filed a lawsuit against administrators at the South Laurel school, claiming her daughter was barred from reading the Bible during lunch period and threatened with punishment if she did it again.

    In her complaint, filed Sept. 29, Maryann Mangum of Laurel, the grandmother and adoptive mother of 13-year-old Amber Mangum, claimed the administrators' actions were a violation of Amber's First Amendment rights and of the school system's own policy.

    "Contrary to the fundamental liberties enshrined in the United States and Maryland Constitutions, Amber Mangum was ordered, under threat of disciplinary action, to cease reading her personal Bible during her lunch period," the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, states.

    "Despite requests that the order be withdrawn, the Defendants have refused to renounce the warning that Amber will be disciplined if she reads her Bible at school."

    The incident that sparked the lawsuit occurred Sept. 14, when Amber Mangum was reading her Bible during lunch period. According to the lawsuit, students at Eisenhower often read books during lunch period, and Amber "is a Christian and takes great comfort in reading the Bible."

    But when Assistant Principal Jeanette Rainey saw what Amber was doing, the lawsuit states, she informed the student that reading the Bible violated school policy and that if she did it again, she would be disciplined.

    Amber put her Bible away, but when she got home she told her mother and a family friend, James Baker, about the incident, the lawsuit states.

    Procedures cited

    Baker sent a letter to school administrators complaining about their actions, and attaching a copy of the Prince George's County school system's administrative procedures, which state: "Students may read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray before tests to the same extent they may engage in comparable, non-disruptive activities."

    When administrators did not respond to the letter, the lawsuit states, Maryann Mangum, at the suggestion of a friend from church, contacted the Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville, Va.-based, civil liberties organization that handles cases involving religious liberties.

    Rutherford President John Whitehead said he also sent a letter to school administrators, telling them their policy was a violation of civil rights and asking them to allow Amber to read her Bible.

    When administrators did not respond, he said, attorneys filed the lawsuit.

    Whitehead said the lawsuit, while requesting unspecified "compensatory and punitive damages," mainly wants a judicial ruling that students can read the Bible in school during their free time.

    Neither Principal Charoscar Coleman nor Vice Principal Rainey could be reached for comment on the lawsuit.

    Investigation launched

    Prince George's school system spokesman John White said the system's attorneys formally learned about the suit Tuesday, Oct. 3, and immediately began an investigation of the incident.

    White declined to comment on the lawsuit, but, when asked about the system's policy on reading the Bible, he said: "If you're asking me can a child read the Bible during lunch hour, the answer is yes."

    He added: "But before jumping to conclusions, we need to go through the process and see what happened here."

    Whitehead said the case is clear- cut.

    "The Constitution is really clear on this," Whitehead said. "Kids have the right to receive information, the right to freedom of religion. ... This was a clear violation of the Constitution and a clear violation of their own policy."

    Whitehead added that his organization is hearing more and more reports from students and parents complaining about such prohibitions. He speculated it was result of an over-emphasis on "political correctness."

    E-mail Pete Pichaske at Pete Pichaske@patuxent.com

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  2. #2
    Senior Member jp_48504's Avatar
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    I'm sure the family will win. This looks like a clear violation of her civil liberties.
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    It's pretty bad when even the school system's spokesman says it's clear cut that the school messed up.
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  4. #4
    Senior Member AlturaCt's Avatar
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    I agree it seems to be pretty clear cut. My main concern is that it happened at all. I have a hard time imagining that Assistant Principal Jeanette Rainey would have been as bold with a student reading the Koran or other non Christian literature. It seems anymore that many public schools are becoming anti-Christian and anti-western culture.
    [b]Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.
    - Arnold J. Toynbee

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