In Dantes Inferno, the inscription over the gates of Hell reads, in part, Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.  The Plano (Texas) Independent School District apparently thinks that the gates of its elementary schools should be inscribed with a similar warning:  Abandon all rights, ye who enter here.

Plano ISD has defended its censorship of student religious expression with the remarkable argument that elementary school students lack Free Speech Clause rights.  Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral argument in Morgan v. Swanson, the federal civil rights case brought against school officials by the censored students and their parents.

School officials prevented eight-year-old Jonathan Morgan from handing out candy cane pens to classmates at the schools winter party because a poem about Jesus was attached.  Students were permitted to distribute similar materials to their classmates, as long as they were not religious.  Unfortunately, young Jonathans experience is not an isolated incident.  For example, Holly Area (MI) School District officials prevented a second-grader from distributing to his classmates sealed envelopes containing invitations to attend summer youth camp at his church.  School officials in Pulaski County (AR) prohibited a third-grader from distributing fliers advertising a swimming event on the ground that the event was church-related.  In both of these cases, ADF attorneys secured an injunction permitting the distribution.  Los Angeles Unified School District officials reversed course and allowed a fifth-grader to perform to a Christian song at a school talent school after ADF filed suit.

Our friends at Liberty Institute represent the censored students and their families in Morgan v. Swanson.  Former Solicitor General Paul Clement presented oral argument on behalf of the students.  Former Solicitor General and federal appeals court judge (and current Baylor University president) Ken Starr also participated in the argument.

Some insightful commentary and additional information on the case can be found here, here, and here.

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