Dismissal of Bible in the Schools lawsuit has been reversed

richmond, va. — A federal court decision last year that dismissed a lawsuit related to the Bible in the Schools program in Mercer County Schools has been reversed.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond on Monday ruled in favor of Elizabeth Deal, who claimed the program created “misery” for her and her daughter.

Following the lawsuit last year filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) along with Deal, the classes were suspended by the school district. However, the federal court then dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds since the classes ended.

But the door was left open for the Bible classes to resume, according to the FFRF, which wants an injunction from the classes ever returning. They had been taught in Mercer County schools for more than 75 years.

Deal filed an appeal before the 4th Circuit in March 2018.

The appellate brief filed by Attorney Marc Schneider and FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott argued that Deal and her daughter could continue to pursue claims against the school district even though her daughter was attending a neighboring school system.

“Despite Elizabeth’s efforts to shield her daughter from the Christian teachings of BITS (Bible in the Schools), her daughter had direct, unwelcome contact with the classes,” the brief said. “Once her daughter was able to avoid the classes themselves, her peers began harassing her — going so far as to condemn her family to hell.”

The brief also highlighted that the school’s Christian classes made Elizabeth and her daughter feel like “outsiders in the community.”

The 4th Circuit agreed with the plaintiffs’ perspective, the FFRF said in a statement.

“If the district court were to enjoin the county from offering the BITS program to students in the future, Deal would no longer feel compelled to send her daughter to a neighboring school district to avoid what Deal views as state-sponsored religious instruction,” the appeals court stated.

The court also characterized the school system’s claims that the case had become both moot and not “ripe” for review as “meritless.”

The district court’s decision was reversed and remanded, the FFRF said. Deal may now pursue an injunction against the classes.

“We hope the school district will finally put an end to these indoctrinating bible classes — and to any attempts to bring them back,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. “No family should suffer the way this family did just because it was unwilling to have religion forced upon it in a public school system.”

The original lawsuit was filed in January 2017 in U.S. District Court in Bluefield by FFRF against the Mercer County Board of Education, the school system and Superintendent Dr. Deborah Akers.

The suit alleged the Bible in the Schools program was unconstitutional because it “endorses one religion, improperly entangles public schools in religious affairs, and violates the personal consciences of nonreligious and non-Christian parents and students.”

Two plaintiffs in the suit, Jane Doe and Deal, are parents of children who either attended Mercer County schools or will attend. They claimed the children risked “ostracism” from other students if they did not participate in the Bible classes, which were optional.

The lawsuit also contended that the Bible in the Schools program, which was taught in 15 elementary schools and three middle schools, offered classes that are basically “Sunday school” classes, which they say is illegal.

The Mercer County School Board administered the program, but funding for the teachers was from private donations. About $500,000 a year is raised to finance the program.

In May 2017, the school system suspended the Bible in the Schools program for the 2017-2018 school year, terminating all teaching positions.

The system added a class in high school for this year, called “The Bible and Its Influence,” which teaches the Bible from a literary and historical perspective, a course that has been vetted legally around the country, school officials say.

In August 2017, Senior U.S. Southern District Judge David A. Faber dismissed the suit, concluding that no damages could be awarded because any “damage” or hardship to the children of two of the plaintiffs, Jane Doe and Deal, was speculative, mainly because the BITS program no longer exists so their children cannot be exposed to it.

As far as FFRF’s claims, the suit was dismissed because the curriculum the foundation wanted to end no longer exists.

Faber included previous legal rulings in his dismissal that make clear teaching the Bible in public schools does not in and of itself violate the separation of church and state.

One ruling he cited held that school-sponsored prayer is unconstitutional but reaffirmed “the principle that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities” and may be “presented objectively as a secular program of education … the ultimate test of the constitutionality of any course of instruction founded upon the Bible must depend upon classroom performance.”

Faber also made it clear in his ruling, though, that any future program could be revisited by the court.

“The court does not blindly trust defendants’ representations, but also relies upon the fact that the BITS teachers have been terminated from their employment by the Mercer County Board of Education … putting the court at ease that a new BITS program is incapable of returning without putting plaintiffs and the court on notice,” he wrote.

After the dismissal, Akers did not give a timetable as to when a program of instruction that includes the Bible will be offered to elementary students, but she said she is confident that when it comes it will meet legal standards.

Hiram Sasser, general counsel of First Liberty Institute, which represented the school system, also released a statement after the dismissal last year.

“Mercer County Schools is grateful to have this unfortunate lawsuit dismissed and remains committed to following the law as it provides diverse educational opportunities to its students,” he said. “The court rightly rejected the notion that teaching students about the Bible is always unconstitutional.”

Mercer County Schools Superintendent Dr. Deborah Akers said in a statement made late Monday evening that “since we do not have a copy of the decision at this point, there is no comment. Once we receive a copy, the Board and I will discuss the issue and comment at that time.”

Email: cboothe@bdtonline.com