Religious freedom is a fundamental human right that is guaranteed by the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Establishment clauses. It encompasses not only the right to believe (or not to believe), but also the right to express and to manifest religious beliefs. These rights are fundamental and should not be subjected to political process and majority votes.
The ACLU of MS has a strong history of supporting freedom of religion and belief. Our work in this area has led us to represent citizens in Jackson, MS who challenged the placement of a cross on a government building during the Christmas holiday season. We have also represented students and parents in their fight against public schools who forced all children to pray one prayer during school hours or schools who denied one student’s right to practice their own religion since it didn’t fit within societal norms.
This is perhaps the most misunderstood area of our work. We have never taken prayer out of schools. Students are absolutely able to pray privately or within groups while in school. They are even able to engage in other religious practices such as dietary restrictions and attire. Public schools can not ‘sponsor’ a particular religion. A prayer said over the school intercom forces all students to acknowledge that particular belief; that violates the rights of students who don’t practice that particular religion, or no religion at all.
One of our biggest school prayer cases happened in Pontotoc County, MS in 1994. The Herdahl family were the target of repeated harassment and abuse for challenging daily bible readings, prayers delivered over school intercoms and religious instruction in classes. When Lisa Herdahl enrolled her children in the Pontotoc school system, she’d requested that they not be in the Bible classes. As a result, the children were harassed on an ongoing basis by school administration and students. In July, the ACLU of Mississippi and a number of parents and students filed suit against Mississippi’s school prayer law. The law required Mississippi public schools to permit “nonsectarian, no proselytizing, student-initiated voluntary prayer” at all compulsory and non-compulsory school events. A federal judge eventually overturned that law.
In 1986, the ACLU of MS filed suit to force the state to remove a cross off of a state building in Jackson. The cross had been displayed on the Sillers building since 1977 and the ACLU was a part of several meetings with then-Governor Bill Allain and other state officials to develop a solution before deciding to file suit. U.S. District Judge William Barbour ruled “the cross unlawfully promoted Christianity and thus violated the separation of church and state provision contained in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution” in December of that year. ACLU of Mississippi board member Stephen Silberman was one of the plaintiffs in this case.
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