{"id":288,"date":"2010-06-02T09:23:56","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T09:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/06\/court-clears-way-for-student-r.html"},"modified":"2010-06-02T09:23:56","modified_gmt":"2010-06-02T09:23:56","slug":"court-clears-way-for-student-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/06\/court-clears-way-for-student-r.html","title":{"rendered":"Court Clears Way for Student & Rosary to Return to School"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry,  <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

It took only a few hours before a federal court in New York <\/a>acted on our request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and cleared the way for our client, 13-year-old Raymond Hosier of Schenectady who had been suspended indefinitely for wearing a Rosary, to return to school.  <\/span><\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>We filed a federal complaint <\/a>– <\/span><\/span>along with a request for a TRO and Preliminary Injunction<\/a> <\/span>– urging the court to take immediate action so Raymond could return to school wearing the Rosary that means so much to him.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Barry,  <\/span>this is a clear case where the school district has not only ignored the constitutional rights afforded to our client, but exhibited hostility toward his First Amendment rights prohibiting him from engaging in free speech and free exercise of religion.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

In suspending Raymond, school officials contended that wearing a Rosary that included religious beads violated the school district’s dress code policy and asserted that the Rosary is considered a gang-related symbol.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>In the complaint, we spell out very clearly that Raymond wears the Rosary to express his faith in God and honor the memory of a deceased uncle and a brother who died with that very same Rosary in his hand.  <\/span>Raymond is not a member of any criminal gang and does not wear his Rosary to promote gang membership or violence.  <\/span>In fact, Raymond has been wearing the Rosary since September 2009 without causing any disruption to the school environment whatsoever.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>The lawsuit, which requests a trial by jury, urges the court to declare the disciplinary actions taken by school officials against Raymond<\/a> unconstitutional, to declare the school’s dress code policy unconstitutional and to prevent it from being used to punish students like Raymond in the future.  <\/span><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/font>The suit also asserts that the school’s actions violated Raymond’s constitutional rights of speech and expression, free exercise of religion, and due process under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>We’re delighted that the court took swift action and granted our request for a TRO<\/a> <\/span>so Raymond can continue his education without removing his Rosary.  <\/span>This is an important first step in the legal process in what we believe will ultimately result in the federal district court determining that the punishment inflicted by the school district by suspending Raymond for wearing a Rosary was not only wrong, but violated his constitutionally-protected rights of free speech and free exercise of religion.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font>The court set a hearing date for June 11th.  <\/span>At that time, we will seek a Preliminary Injunction, permitting Raymond to continue to wear the Rosary in school until a final decision is reached in the case.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>We’re very optimistic that the court will ultimately conclude that Raymond’s Rosary does not represent a constitutional crisis and that the 7th grader will be able to express his First Amendment rights without fear of censorship or being punished by a dress code policy that’s vague and unconstitutional.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

To subscribe to “Lynn v. Sekulow” click <\/font>here<\/font><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barry,  It took only a few hours before a federal court in New York acted on our request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and cleared the way for our client, 13-year-old Raymond Hosier of Schenectady who had been suspended indefinitely for wearing a Rosary, to return to school.    We filed a federal complaint – along with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,139,36,11,328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-courts","category-first-amendment","category-free-speech","category-public-schools","category-religious-discrimination"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt Clears Way for Student & Rosary to Return to School - Lynn v. 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Jay Sekulow has also served as a faculty member for the Office of Legal Education at the United States Department of Justice.  As a member of the faculty he instructed Assistant United States Attorneys and investigators in the First Amendment issues associated with prosecution of obscenity. An accomplished and respected judicial advocate, Sekulow has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous cases in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several landmark cases argued by Sekulow before the U.S. Supreme Court have become part of the legal landscape in the area of religious liberty litigation.  In the Mergens case, Sekulow cleared the way for public school students to form Bible clubs and religious organizations on their school campuses.  In the Lamb's Chapel case, Sekulow defended the free speech rights of religious groups, ensuring that they be treated equally with respect to the use of public facilities.  And, most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, Sekulow ensured that the constitutional rights of young people remain protected with a unanimous decision by the high court guaranteeing that minors can participate in political campaigns. A nationally recognized and respected defender of religious freedom, Sekulow has assembled one of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.  Founded in 1990, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses in constitutional law.  The ACLJ, under Sekulow's direction, is involved in public interest and public policy issues working to protect religious and constitutional liberties. In 2007, the Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has \"led the way\" in Christian legal advocacy.  In 2005, TIME Magazine named Sekulow one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America and called the ACLJ \"a powerful counterweight\" to the ACLU.  Business Week said the ACLJ is \"the leading advocacy group for religious freedom.\"  Sekulow's work on the issue of judicial nominees - including possible vacancies at the Supreme Court - has received extensive news coverage including a front page story in The Wall Street Journal.  In addition, The National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \"100 Most Influential Lawyers\" in the United States (1994, 1997).  He is also among a distinguished group of attorneys known as \"The Public Sector 45\" named by The American Lawyer (January\/February 1997).  The magazine said the designation represents \"45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.\" Sekulow brings insight and education to listeners daily with his national call-in radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!, which is broadcast throughout the country on nearly 850 radio stations.  Sekulow also hosts a weekly television program, ACLJ This Week, which tackles the tough issues of the day and is broadcast on a number of networks nationwide including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and FamilyNet.  Sekulow is also a popular guest on nationally televised news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.  He frequently contributes articles and commentary to national publications and is often quoted in the nation's leading newspapers including USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times. A graduate of Mercer University, Sekulow graduated cum laude receiving both a bachelor's degree and doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer University where he served on the Mercer Law Review as an editorial staff member.  Following graduation, Sekulow served as a tax trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service.  In that capacity, Sekulow prepared and brought to trial tax cases on behalf of the United States Department of Treasury in United States Tax Court. He also received a Ph.D. from Regent University, with a dissertation on American Legal History, and is the author of numerous publications and law articles. Sekulow serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/jsekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}