CA Teen Told to Check Faith at the Door

By Sarah K. Cron

CBNNews.com

March 11, 2007

CBNNews.com - A California teen who was told to "leave his faith in the car" got his day at the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2004, Chase Harper, then a sophomore at Poway High School in California, was told by school administrators wearing his T-shirt expressing his views on homosexuality was not allowed on campus. Harper attempted to wear his T-shirt during a "Day of Silence," an event hosted by a student homosexual group "to teach tolerance," court documents say.

The shirt had handwritten on the front "homosexuality is shameful." On the back, it read "I will not accept what God has condemned." School officials argued that the message could spark violence on campus. Administrators had broken up some fights during the same event held a year earlier.

After refusing to change, Harper was not allowed to go back to class. He instead stayed in the front office for the rest of the day.

Assistant Principle Ed Giles explained to Harper that, while he shared the student's faith, he as a school employee had to "leave his faith in his car," court documents say.

Harper asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Appeals to reverse the decision, after a lower court denied that his constitutional right to free speech and religion had been violated. When the appeals court upheld the ban on his T-shirt, they turned to America's highest court for help.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 8-1 to vacate the lower court's decision in the school's favor. Harper is represented by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund.

"Students simply do not lose their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate," said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. "Two 9th Circuit judges issued an extremely dangerous ruling last year, allowing a school to censor the Christian point of view, while permitting students to speak out in support of homosexual behavior."

The Supreme Court's decision sends a strong rebuke to the 9th Circuit, and effectively wipes out the lower court's ruling, rendering it moot. Attorneys for Harper say this means 9th Circuit decisions cannot be used as "precedent" in any future cases of the same nature.

Lawyers for the family say they are still litigating the matter in lower courts. Harper's sister Kelsie Harper, a sophomore at Poway, must still abide by the school's dress code that disallows any religious message against homosexual behavior.

"It's just another example of a double standard," said National Media Relations Manager Greg Scott. Scott said that the school's dress code lets administrators bar students from expressing their religious beliefs while "promoting deviant sexual behavior in high school."

Court documents also indicated that Poway High School has a history of conflict between students over homosexuality.

Sources: U.S. 9th Circuit, U.S. Supreme Court, Alliance Defense Fund

MESSAGE BOARD: CBN News has reported on students at public schools/colleges facing trouble for expressing their faith. How can Christians battle political correctness in the public school arena?

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