ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) - A high school student won't be allowed to proceed with a lawsuit against his school district for instituting a policy that barred him from expressing his opposition to homosexuality, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 vote, said Boyd County High School student Timothy Morrison failed to show that he was harmed by the policy that was later changed.
Judge Deborah L. Cook, joined by Judge John R. Adams, also said Morrison didn't show how winning a lawsuit seeking only $1 in damages would rectify his situation. Judge Karen Nelson Moore dissented.
"This case should be over," Cook wrote. "Allowing it to proceed to determine the constitutionality of an abandoned policy — in the hope of awarding the plaintiff a single dollar — vindicates no interest and trivializes the important business of the federal courts."
The ruling is a reversal of a previous ruling that held Morrison should be allowed to pursue the lawsuit.
Morrison, a senior at Boyd County High School, sued the Boyd County school district over a policy that required students to undergo anti-harassment training. He claimed the policy threatened him with punishment for expressing religious beliefs in opposition to homosexuality. Morrison is a professed Christian who believes his religion requires him to speak out against what he sees as behavior that doesn't comport with his understanding of Christian morality.
Morrison was never punished under the policy, which was later changed to exempt speech that would normally be protected off campus.
The school district adopted the policy and established the anti-harassment training as part of a 2004 legal settlement that ended a lawsuit between the school district and a now-defunct gay-rights group that wanted recognition as an extracurricular group.
Members of the Boyd County High School Gay Straight Alliance argued that the school district violated their constitutional rights by refusing to allow them to meet on campus.
Joel Oster, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian law group that represents Morrison, didn't immediately return a telephone message left at his Scottsdale, Ariz., office. Winter Huff, an attorney representing the school district, didn't immediately return a call to her Somerset office.
Sharon McGowan, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which supported the Alliance Defense Fund in arguing that Morrison should be permitted to pursue his case, said the ACLU was disappointed by the decision.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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aritonang, a school is supposed to be a safe environment for students of every background, ethnicity, belief. If Morrison wants to protest homosexuality, he can do so outside of school where he will spend most of his day. Just like homosexuals shouldn't protest any part of Christian religion, Morrison shouldn't protest any part of a classmates life on school grounds.
ACLU statement here is a pure hypocrisy. They are genuinely glad inside that Morrison cannot pursue his anti gay protest in his high school because of their GLBT support.
For me this is absurd. Why did the Federal Appeal Court bar this kid Timothy Morrison from voicing his opposition to homosexuals?
Can anybody else see the double standards being applied here? This is a hate crime against Christian values. Is this an example of so called American freedom of speech and expression? If the US constitution support stifling a Christian youth from voicing out his believes then US constitution needs to be amended to clearly defend his freedom.
I am disgusted about how insecure the sodomites of America really are.
Star2 said: <<God's Word is quite clear that gay sex is an abomination to God and all those who practice it will perish. No where in scripture will you find God saying otherwise. Those who think He has have not rightly divided the Word of Truth.>>
When people approach a religious text, or any large book from which they intend to derive ethical teachings, nearly without exception the person will pick up the book and pay very particular attention to all the morals they already agreed with. A homophobe will pick up the Christian Bible and realise that Homosexuality is an evil sin. A misogynist will pick it up and realise that after all this time he's right: Women are inferior, and he can quote the Bible to prove it. People get, from religious texts, what they put into them.
<<God will bring to nought any nation who embraces homosexuality. >>
When? When he decides that Christians like you get to choose the date and time of the never coming Rapture you've been threatening us with. Fearmongering and pandering to the superstitious and the ignorant masses has never worked, people see past the man behind the curtain, smoke and mirror facade EVERY time. If all you have in your arsenal is threats generated with your interpretation of Bible verses, what kind of TRUTH is that?
Creed, "Yes, being gay is evil just like rape, robbing, murder even a “little white lie”.
And yet I must say, shame on people who spend their lives roaming the news to find issues that are obviously anti-gay bigotry and not focusing journalism on more seriously issues such as, oh i don't know, 'rape robbing and murder.' And this kid 'speaking in that tone' - you call it a Christian tone, I call it mean, ill-spirited, and just an excuse to speak badly against gay students who must go to school. they shouldn't be subjected to ignorant students like Morrison.
Lev 18:22 - "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination."
Lev 20:13 - "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have commiteed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.:
Ezekiel 16:49-50
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idelness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminnate, nor abuser of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor theives, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Jude 7 - "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
God's Word is quite clear that gay sex is an abomination to God and all those who practice it will perish. No where in scripture will you find God saying otherwise. Those who think He has have not rightly divided the Word of Truth.
God will bring to nought any nation who embraces homosexuality.
The pro-gay groups will stop at nothing to ram their lifestyle down your throats, they will try to squash your right to oppose them, they will try to silence your dissent-even when you are not being hateful towards them. They will magnify your comments into a "hate speech" to try and silence you. They make a mockery of free speech but will use it to further their own agenda, your countries and mine's soldiers are dying to protect us and our way of life right now.Many special interest groups take advantage of the freedom they have now while trying to deny it to others who dare to debate them. It is not right to hate them or attack them for their lifestyle- but they should at least give those opposed a chance to give their opinions- that is what freedom is all about, thanks, IN JESUS NAME.
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blue1018 wrote:
-Ok to express his views, but speaking in that tone his thoughts would have offended gay students, and that's not right.
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By you saying “speaking in that tone” what tone would that be? That he”… believes his religion requires him to speak out against what he sees as behavior that doesn't comport with his understanding of Christian morality”?
If so, then Morrison is correct. We all need to speak out against what our Lord and Savior tells us what is evil. Yes, being gay is evil just like rape, robbing, murder even a “little white lie”.
Anything that our Lord finds displeasing to Him we should also find it displeasing to us as well.
I know that there are some out there that say the Holy Bible doesn’t condemn homosexuality but they are sadly mistaken. There are many verses that denounce this type of practice.
"the 1000 that rallied to support kern didnt rally for her speaking the gospel or the teachings of christ. they rallied to support her freedom of speech. which puts her in the the same company as the black panthers and the klu klux klan."
feet, when you spew your anger towards Christians are you doing so on your own accord or are you part of a Gay agenda (movement).
"Morrison is a professed Christian who believes his religion requires him to speak out against what he sees as behavior that doesn't comport with his understanding of Christian morality."
-Ok to express his views, but speaking in that tone his thoughts would have offended gay students, and that's not right.
the 1000 that rallied to support kern didnt rally for her speaking the gospel or the teachings of christ. they rallied to support her freedom of speech. which puts her in the the same company as the black panthers and the klu klux klan.
"Why can anyone revile gay people and sugarcoat it as "religious speech" yet the same person would be hauled into court if they tried the same stunt with Blacks, Asians, Latinos, Baptists, Catholics, Jews, etc."
Quite honestly most of the tough talk and ridicule on this site is leveled towards Christians. Where is the tolerance for this?
Sounds like a radical anti-gay activist seeing dollar signs. I thought greed was a sin. This business of bashing gay Americans and protecting it as a "religious belief" is absurd. What if my religion taught me that Jewish people were sinful? Could I then run around school in a t-shirt which condemned Jewish people and claim it was my religious freedom to do so? Why can anyone revile gay people and sugarcoat it as "religious speech" yet the same person would be hauled into court if they tried the same stunt with Blacks, Asians, Latinos, Baptists, Catholics, Jews, etc.?
What was the point of this lawsuit? Since the policy was changed
"Judge Deborah L. Cook, joined by Judge John R. Adams, also said Morrison didn't show how winning a lawsuit seeking only $1 in damages would rectify his situation. Judge Karen Nelson Moore dissented."
She knows VERY WELL why. The Judge knows that should she rule in favor of the plaintiff it will be PRECEDENT!!! Dissembling hogwash.... APPEAL!
Patrick J Burwell / OnlyJesusSaves.com
Let's keep in mind that the ACLU almost always seems to jump in the frontines of cases pursuing the restriction of religious (particularly Christian) expression.
One small sympathetic concession does not an advocate make.