"Students may
express their beliefs…"
When first-grader Zachary Hood of
Medford, N.J., got in trouble in 1996, he didn't go to the principal's office.
He went to a federal court of appeals.
It may be incorrect to say that his
teacher punished him, but Zachary felt that way. He went home crying and
feeling humiliated. His mother Carol was furious.
Here's what happened—Zachary's
teacher wanted to reward her students for learning to read. She told them to
each bring in a story from home, so they could read it aloud to the class.
There were only two rules, she said: The story had to short, and it had to be
on a first-grade reading level.
“Don’t Be Angry
Anymore”
Zachary chose a story from The Beginner's
Bible. It recounts the rivalry of the brothers Jacob and Esau in the Book of
Genesis and their reconciliation. This is what Zachary wanted to read to his
classmates:
"Jacob traveled far away to his
uncle's house. He worked for his uncle, taking care of sheep. While he was
there, Jacob got married. He had twelve sons. Jacob's big family lived on his
uncle's land for many years.
"But Jacob wanted to go back
home. One day, Jacob packed up all his animals and his family and everything he
had. They traveled all the way back to where Esau lived.
"Now Jacob was afraid that Esau
might still be angry at him. So he sent presents to Esau. He sent servants who
said, 'Please don't be angry anymore.'
"But Esau wasn't angry. He ran
to Jacob. He hugged and kissed him. He was happy to see his brother
again."
To Zachary's dismay, the teacher
told him he couldn't read the story because of its "religious
content." The principal agreed, telling Zachary's mother passage was
"the equivalent of praying."
She filed suit in federal court alleging
that her son had been denied his First Amendment rights. She was doubtless doubly
upset. According to her, the principal told her that she and her son didn't
"appear to be public-school material." To make matters worse,
Zachary's mother also said the principal told her, "I have enough trouble
with Jews," a statement the principal denied making.
A Less Conspicuous
Place
This wasn't exactly poor Zachary's
first offence. He got in trouble the first time the year before at Thanksgiving.
He and his fellow kindergarteners had to draw a picture of something they were
each "thankful for." Zachary drew a picture of Jesus. At first, his
teacher displayed it with the other children's posters outside the classroom.
Then the school took it down. That upset Zachary, and the teacher hung it again
but in a less conspicuous place.
A federal court ruled against
Zachary. It held that although nothing in the story was overtly about religion
(it made no mention of God, Christianity, or Judaism), his classmates might
have concluded that if their teacher had allowed him to read it, they might
have thought the school was endorsing his religious beliefs.
A federal court of appeals affirmed
the decision without hearing any oral arguments. Then, after a rehearing was
requested, the appeals court heard oral arguments from both sides. It again
ruled in favor of the school, voting 6-6, thus upholding the lower court's
decision.
In its ruling, the court stated that
students possess only limited free speech rights in school and that the school
and its teacher had properly exercised their legitimate discretion in
forbidding Zachary to read the story. In a dissent, Justice Samuel Alito (who now
serves on the Supreme Court) contended that "public school authorities may
not discriminate against student speech based on its religious content." Ultimately,
the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
In a way, however, Zachary actually
won. In response to this case, the Department of Education issued guidelines
on the degree to which public schools should permit students to express their
religious beliefs. Its "guidance" to schools says, "Students may
express their beliefs about religion in the form of homework, artwork, and
other written and oral assignments—free of discrimination based on the
religious contents of their submissions."
Zachary Hood's parents later enrolled him in a local private school.
Zachary Hood's parents later enrolled him in a local private school.
MORAL: Sometimes you can win by losing.
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