A student who practices the Wicca religion may now wear a Pentagram to her suburban high school, since the school settled a lawsuit with the ACLU. The Pentagram was recently banned by the high school along with black nail polish and vampire-style makeup.
Lincoln Park High School in recent months banned witches, white supremacists and Satanists, as well as black nail polish, vampire-style makeup and pentagrams. Under the ban, the accessories would be confiscated if they were worn to school and the student suspended indefinitely.
With the help of the ACLU, the student sued in U.S. District Court in Detroit last month. The settlement ensures that all witches will now have the right to wear Pentagrams. However, the school still bans white supremacists, Satanists, and any accessories associated with those beliefs.
“I’m glad it’s over,” the senior honor-roll student said in a statement. “The longer it went on and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn’t just about me and just about Wicca. It was about a lot of other people and religions.”
The student could not be more right. The ban was about censorship at government schools. Government officials censor the curriculum and now they want to censor the student body. They ban dark makeup and rebellious symbols like fascists who burned books.
Lawsuits can extinguish this attack on the free expression of students. If your school tries to outlaw certain religious symbols, fight back by filing a lawsuit.
Like the lawsuit filed by the witch, your school will probably settle the case before it goes to court. Schools settle cases to limit legal costs and to avoid trials that they will probably lose. To start the process, hire a lawyer to write a letter that explains your demands and file the lawsuit in your local courthouse. You may not need to pay for any more legal fees if the school decides to settle the case.
If the school settle or if you win the case, then you will strengthen the religious freedom for all students in your area.
Original report
(2/14/99) A Detroit high school student claims her government school’s ban on wearing a five-pointed star violates her right to practice Wiccan religion. The Michigan ACLU sued in federal court on her behalf.
According to the ACLU, the policy violates the First Amendment’s guarantee’s of free speech and religious freedom. “Christian students can wear crosses, and Jewish students can wear stars of David, but Wiccans can’t wear the pentagram,” said Michigan ACLU spokesman Tom Schram.
She may call herself a witch but our current politicians make her look like a fairy god mother. This case shows how Republican and Democrat politicians use government schools to force you to accept their preferred religions and ideas.
The high school student may win her case but she cannot stop the government from forcing her to read its assigned books or from requiring her to take classes that are filled with more propaganda than facts.
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