Cheerleaders say Scripture’s no foul
AUSTIN Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Wednesday that he will defend high school cheerleaders who want to use Bible verses on banners at football games.
Abbott, a Republican, has filed court papers to intervene in a lawsuit that high school cheerleaders in Kountze filed against the school district complaining that a new policy violated their freedom of speech.
In September, district officials told the cheerleaders to stop using Bible verses at football games after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained.
The atheist group argued that using banners with phrases such as, “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me,” violates the First Amendment prohibition on the government establishing a religion.
After the school told the cheerleaders they could no longer use Bible verses, they filed suit in Hardin County District Court. State District Judge Steve Thomas put a hold on the school policy while con- sidering arguments, and the cheerleaders continued to make banners. Thomas likely will rule today.
Abbott said that because the cheerleaders create the banners without school funding, they qualify as free speech. “This is student-led expression, and that’s perfectly constitutional,” he said.
Joining Abbott at a news confer- ence, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, said he supported the cheerleaders.
“Anyone who is expressing their faith should be celebrated, from my perspective, in this day and age of instant gratification, this me-first culture that we see all too often,” Perry said. “We’re a nation built on the concept of free expression of ideas.”