Fremont schools ban religious necklace

[rug]

Published 06:05 a.m., Monday, October 3, 2011

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — The Freemont school district has banned the wearing of a necklace that looks like a rosary because they say it's also being worn by gang members.

KETV reported (http://bit.ly/pMan3Z ) that Fremont Superintendent Steve Sexton says the policy is for student safety. He says school officials have received information from police that the rosary is being used as a symbol of gang affiliation.

Omaha Catholic Archdiocese Chancellor Rev. Joseph Taphorn says that's disheartening and that Christians shouldn't have to give up a symbol of their faith because others want to misuse it.

Twelve-year-old Elizabeth Carey says she was told by her principal she couldn't wear her necklace. Her parents say they are upset that their daughter was not being allowed to express her religious beliefs.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Fremont-schools-ban-religious-necklace-2199871.php

That's the entire article.

[MADem]

1. Do what the military does.

Wear your necklace--INSIDE your shirt. The chain has to be long enough so the article is not visible.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Should not hold up on court challenge

But then again, its fly over country.

[Goblinmonger]

3. Yeah

because we are all just slack-jawed mouth breathers here in the middle of the country.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. That is the historical record

Local courts in flyover country have been historically weak on the rights of expression. The Feds have stepped in to clear things up as needed.

[Deep13]

13. The judiciary often is. nt

[darkstar3]

21. The courts have already stated that students in public schools

forfeit a certain amount of First Amendment freedoms due to being

1. Minors.
2. Forced to be there and therefore forced to listen to other people's bull.
3. Required to be under a certain level of control and discipline from their teachers. (It's a controlled environment.)

Free speech means that I can stand in the street and, provided I break no laws of conduct, say anything I want about people in power. I have no such freedom in a public school. If I were still a student, and I were to stand in the hallway, break no rules of conduct, and state loudly that I believe the school administrators had the collective intelligence of a thimble, I could still be punished for my speech.

If they can actually show the information they received that marked rosaries as gang symbols, and show that they have banned nothing religious simply because it was religious this will hold in court.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

23. You might want to review Tinker v Des Moines

The students at the very least have the rights to challenge the conclusions drawn by the administration. Local courts tend to defer to the local educrats, the Feds are much more careful with civil rights. To pass the Tinker tests it would have to be demonstrable that a rosary like necklace was well known as a gang symbol and disruptive in their community. Somehow I doubt it, given the locale. I checked at a nearby district which has well known gang issues here in California. No such ban.

High school administrators have a bad track record with us since we returned to live in the US. We have beaten them at every turn, but what is disheartening is that we had to challenge them in the first place. Mostly they assume prerogatives they do not have. They retreat like scalded dogs when you make them talk to the district legal counsel. Sometimes they are not too bright and it takes more than one event for them to remain in their boxes.

[darkstar3]

26. My point stands. The Tinker tests are but one way in which Constitutional freedoms

are curtailed for public school students, as I explained.

And as a person who has been tied rather closely to members of public school administration, I find your dehumanization of such people distasteful.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

27. Well the ACLU is rolling in, so they see some merit there

As for our experience with HS administrators, it was clearly mixed. There were some very good ones, but most were weak and capricious. Challenge them and they would try to bully you or the students involved. It was their building and we (parents & students) would do what were were told or else. We saw multiple ADA, UFAS, and Tinker violations that they claimed were perfectly legal. They attempted off campus restrictions via new long arm rules. It really wasn't a positive let alone liberal environment. Some of us made sure they paid a price for their actions.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

5. I'm sorry, but why is it dangerous?

[socialshockwave]

6. Muslims can wear turbans, Sikhs can carry kirpans,

but Christians cannot wear the Cross.

[laconicsax]

7. You poor, persecuted thing!

:nopity:

If only you were able to read past the headline.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. I read the entire article...still very questionable

[laconicsax]

10. As are most anti-gang policies.

The point is, this isn't discrimination directed at Christians, it's an anti-gang policy that affects Christians who almost literally wear their faith on their sleeve.

[dmallind]

9. Bullshit of course

Christians must adhere to policies that apply equslly, including those about religiouds symbols, jewelry, proselytizing, and performing expected job duties.

[geardaddy]

25. Wow.

[dmallind]

11. Disagree with decision. Let gangs wear Christian symbols and vive versa at their own risk

I don'ty wear atheist symbol jewelry. I do however have a couple of shirts with specific organizational logos on them. If criminal gangs adopted any as a sign I would not be stupid enough to continue wearing them.

[Jim__]

12. I'm not clear on exactly why the students are not allowed to wear the necklace.

The school says it's for their own safety. But how has that been determined? Have gang members attacked non-gang members for wearing this? I understand that gangs can be extremely dangerous; but they can be dangerous no matter what you're wearing. Forbidding people to dress a certain way seems like a drastic action to take. Maybe it's justified in this case by the circumstances; but, since no incidents are cited in the report, my suspicion is that there haven't been any incidents. Without any serious justification, I think the school should notify the students of the risks associated with certain dress, and then let the students decide. If the gangs don't want non-gang members wearing this jewelry, then it seems like the school is enforcing the wishes of the gangs.

[Goblinmonger]

15. Walk through blood territory

with a blue bandanna in your back pocket and let me know how that goes.

And the school isn't letting ANYONE wear it, gangs included.

[Jim__]

16. This isn't about wearing a blue bandanna in blood territory.

This school is in Nebraska; and the alleged "gang activity" is in Oregon, Texas, and Arizona. Circumstances matter - as noted in my previous post.

[Goblinmonger]

17. I know that at my school, the police don't tell us about gang acitivty

unless it is happening in our district. They certainly don't tell us what is happening in every gang every where. Have you read a different article that says what you are saying because the one in the OP doesn't indicate that.

[Jim__]

19. From the KETV report:

Superintendent Steve Sexton said the policy is for student safety.

"We had information from law enforcement that there were documented instances of gang activity in the area and we had information that states that the rosary was being used as a symbol of gang affiliation," Sexton said.

He said rosaries have been used as gang-identification symbols in Oregon, Arizona and Texas.

[Goblinmonger]

20. "gang activity in the area."

Seems like they are aware of something going on locally.

[Jim__]

24. Nothing in that report connects the gang activity to any type of necklace.

The connection to the necklace is in Oregon, Texas, and Arizona. IMHO, bans on clothing need serious justification.

[Deep13]

14. Is it the Latin Kings or MS13 or one I haven't heard of? nt

[struggle4progress]

18. ... "The principal said I couldn't wear my necklace at all because gangsters were wearing it,"

she said ... We had information from law enforcement that there were documented instances of gang activity in the area and we had information that states that the rosary was being used as a symbol of gang affiliation," Sexton said ... "One ought to be able to figure out whether she's trying to promote a gang," Taphorn said. "If she's not, why would she be punished for her right of religious freedom and religious expression?" ... Fremont Public Schools said the district has no problem with students wearing jewelry or clothing to express their faith, but rosaries are an exception.
Fremont Girl Banned From Wearing Rosary At School
District Says Church Symbol Being Used By Gangs
POSTED: 9:46 pm CDT October 2, 2011
UPDATED: 8:17 am CDT October 3, 2011
http://www.ketv.com/news/29367988/detail.html

The Nebraska ACLU is siding with a sixth-grade girl who said that her religious beliefs have been compromised because the Fremont Public School District won't let her go to class wearing a necklace that resembles a rosary ... Amy Miller, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, said Monday that the ban raises “serious concerns” about children's religious liberty ...
“We understand the serious concerns about gangs in schools, but Fremont Public Schools should demonstrate there is a concrete gang connection before shutting down a student's free speech and religious rights.”
Published Monday October 3, 2011
Fremont schools ban rosaries
By Kevin Cole
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
http://www.omaha.com/article/20111003/NEWS01/710039919/1009

[ButterflyBlood]

22. Bans on gang clothing is pretty stupid

Gang members wear the same clothes as anyone else and just because they appropriate certain styles doesn't mean the baby should be thrown out with the bathwater. Besides they can just appropriate something else. Reminds me of some schools banning certain colors of shoes or mixing certain colors for similar reasons. It's just stupid.