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October 16, 2009

Court action possible in cheerleader case

Mark Andrews, Catoosa County News

Warnings of possible legal action have been abundant in the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School cheerleader sign issue.

During Tuesday’s Catoosa County school board meeting, several supporters of the cheerleaders said that if the board did not reverse its decision, the matter could go to court.

“Obviously, we don’t have any legal standing on the issue,” proponent Jeremy Jones said Thursday. “It’s completely up to the cheerleaders.”

Jones said the issue has received national support and there have been offers of legal guidance by national groups such as the Christian Law Association.

According to Jones, there have been unconfirmed reports that a parent of a cheerleader has been in contact with one of these organizations.

Matthew Bryan, a Ringgold lawyer who spoke to the school board in support of the cheerleaders, said the situation was unique because he could not find a similar case in the federal court system.

Bryan said he believes the cheerleaders’ signs are constitutionally protected speech. He said the laws that restrain Congress — in particular, the wording in the First Amendment that “prohibits” Congress from certain actions — have been misinterpreted and applied to private citizens.

“Through a series of judicial twist and turns, the restraints on the Congress of the United States are now widely regarded as applying to you,” Bryan said. “There can be no valid court decision in opposition to the Constitution itself.”

Bryan said he had no knowledge of any parents communicating with organizations offering assistance and he has not been in contact with the cheerleaders. He has, however, discussed the situation with several concerned citizens.

Renzo Wiggins, attorney for the Catoosa school system, said on Tuesday the sign ban was not infringing upon the cheerleaders’ First Amendment rights.

He said, by law, the school system could not make a partisan stance in support of one particular religion — in this case, allowing Bible verses to be displayed on signs on the field during a football game.

“What the law requires on the part of the public school system is that it take a neutral stance on the issue of religion,” Wiggins said.

The cheerleaders can still hold signs with Bible verses in the stadium as well as in a free-speech zone outside of the stadium.

Under Wiggins’ counsel, the school board had determined that allowing cheerleaders to display their signs on the field led to the “inescapable conclusion” that the school supported a particular religion.

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