Judges split in case of first-grader barred from reading Bible story

By The Associated Press

08.29.00

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Zachary Hood and his mother, Carol, in their home in Lumberton, N.J., in May 1999.

PHILADELPHIA — A federal court was evenly divided yesterday in the case of a New Jersey boy barred from reading his favorite Bible story to his first-grade class, letting stand a lower court ruling that said the school district did not violate the boy's free-speech rights.

The boy's mother will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, her lawyer said.

The full 12-member panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split, 6-6, in the case involving Zachary Hood and the Haines Elementary School in Medford, N.J. The court sent back to the district court a portion of the case involving a Thanksgiving poster that Zachary drew.

"The fact that the court tied, 6-6, highlights how complex and important student religious expression is, and it's an issue that the Supreme Court should now face head-on," said Eric W. Treene, of the Washington, D.C.-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the boy.

Zachary was a first-grader in 1996 when teacher Grace Oliva rewarded students for their reading skills by letting them pick a story to read to their classmates.

Zachary, who is Catholic, chose a story about Jacob and Esau from The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories. Oliva told him the story was inappropriate because of its religious content and origin, even though it had no overt religious theme and didn't mention God.

The teacher allowed Zachary to read it to her in private, but would not let him do so in front of the class, saying it might influence other students. The boy's parents sought an apology and later sued the teacher, the principal, the district and the district superintendent.

The court dissented on a second phase of the lawsuit that alleged that Zachary's rights also were violated in kindergarten, when a substitute teacher removed a poster he had made for a Thanksgiving display in the hallway.

Students were asked to make posters depicting what they were thankful for. Zachary made a poster showing that he was "thankful for Jesus."

The substitute teacher removed the poster from the display, but his regular teacher returned it to a less prominent place in the hallway the next day.

The court did not rule on the constitutional issues involved regarding the removal of the poster. They gave Zachary's mother, Carol Hood, a chance to amend her complaint to make it more specific, Treene said.

"We will be pressing ahead on both tracks," said Kevin J. Hasson, Becket Fund president.

Michael P. Madden, an attorney representing the Medford Township school district, said he was pleased that the issue of the Bible story has been resolved, but had been hoping both matters would have been concluded by the court. He said he was confident that the district will win on the issue of Zachary's Thanksgiving poster.

Treene said student religious expression is quite different from school prayer, and that the Supreme Court "needs to speak with a strong voice" about it.

"They need to make a distinction between government-sponsored religious expression, like a teacher leading prayer at the beginning of the day, and genuine student religious expression, like Zachary reading a story or a child wearing a T-shirt that says, 'What would Jesus do?' "

Hasson said the Clinton administration's guidelines for public schools say that "students may express their beliefs about religion in the form of homework, art work and other written and oral assignments free of discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions."

Hasson said such guidelines are meaningless if the Medford Township school system's "blatant defiance of the guidelines, and the constitutional rights they seek to protect," are left in place by the federal courts.

The Hoods have moved to Lumberton, where Zachary is entering fifth grade.

Treene said he was impressed that the full court carefully considered the issue.

"We respect that the court grappled with this," Treene said. "I think it says a wonderful thing about our Constitution, that a little boy's rights were taken so seriously that they would take the time to have all 12 judges review it.

"So many countries would just see this as unimportant, but in America one child's religious rights are worth stopping and taking a look at."

Update

Boy barred from reading Bible story loses Supreme Court appeal
Justices refuse to get involved in fight over whether public school teacher should have allowed first-grader to read religious story in class.  06.18.01