Below is a message from our friend, Kelly Shackelford of Texas, about a pending religious liberty case his group is a part of. Please read what he has to say, and pray that the judges will rule in favor of religious freedom.
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On Monday, May 23, the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals will hear a case that will impact every elementary school child in the nation.
In the case Morgan et al. v. Plano (Texas) Independent School District, known as the infamous “candy cane” case, judges will determine whether elementary students are too young to have First Amendment freedoms.
This is the biggest religious freedom case in the nation.
Liberty Institute, along with two former US Solicitors General, Kenneth Starr and Paul Clement, will go to battle for the rights of American students before all 17 judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Such en banc hearings are rare and are only for big cases with national impact.
The “candy cane” case started eight years ago when public school officials banned eight-year-old Jonathan Morgan from giving candy canes with Jesus’ name on them to classmates at a holiday party.
They also confiscated one little girl’s pencils banning her and others from handing them out afterschool because they had the word God on them.
Outrageously, these same officials even banned an entire class sending cards to our troops overseas from writing the words “Merry Christmas” to our soldiers.
The government officials are now arguing that elementary kids are too young to have First Amendment rights.
Think of what this would mean: no religious freedom, no right to respectfully express a different opinion than the government, religious discrimination permitted, and no way for parents to protect their children.
This is outrageous and we’re fighting to stop what could be a horrible tragedy for this country. The First Amendment protects every American, even families and children in public school.
Please spread the word on this case. To see our latest video on this case, visit www.FirstAmendmentFreedoms.LibertyInstitute.org
Encourage every church in the nation to pray this weekend.
Deborah Jones