Thomas More Society Files Lawsuit against School on Behalf of
Pro-Life Students
(July
11, 2016 – Allentown, PA) – Thomas More Society has filed a lawsuit
against Parkland High School and Parkland School District on behalf of students
Elizabeth (Liz) Castro and Grace Schairer. The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania, claims that school administrators have violated Liz
and Grace’s free speech rights by denying their application to form a Students
for Life club at the school and then conditioning approval on the students
giving up certain speech rights.
“Parkland’s initial denial and later
attempt to impose extra requirements on Liz and Grace’s club are a far cry from
the law’s requirement that schools treat student clubs equally in every
respect,” said Jocelyn Floyd, special counsel for Thomas More Society. “We hope
that the court will quickly recognize the illegal and unconstitutional way the
school has treated Liz and Grace and require Parkland High School to uphold
their rights under both the First Amendment and Equal Access Act.”
Liz Castro and Grace Schairer first
approached the Parkland administration about starting Trojans for Life in September 2016. After numerous meetings and
submitting a formal club proposal, their club was denied in March for being too
political and controversial. Liz and Grace reached out for assistance to
Students for Life of America (SFLA), a national organization that provides
support to student pro-life clubs.
SFLA’s attorneys at the Thomas More
Society sent a demand letter to the school and the school district, challenging
the administrators’ denial of the club as a violation of the federal Equal
Access Act and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The
Society asked for the school to approve the club, giving it full access to the
school’s established expressive forum, equal to all other clubs.
In response, the district said it
would approve the club—but only if Elizabeth and Grace changed the club’s
mission, abandoned certain activities, and gave up their rights to fundraise.
Far from treating Trojans for Life equally, these are demands that no other
clubs are required to meet.
“The school is treating us like
second-class citizens because we want to create a culture of life and be a
positive influence to our peers,” said Grace Schairer, who will be a senior
this coming fall at Parkland High School. “We want to educate our fellow
students about abortion and at the same time be a visible resource for our
peers facing unplanned pregnancies. The school has made it clear that it
will not allow us to have this type of club, so we decided to file the
lawsuit. We are hoping for a quick resolution so Trojans for Life can hit
the ground running at the start of the fall semester, along with all the other
clubs at Parkland High School.”
“Holding pro-life
views and wanting to create a culture of life on campus is not grounds for the
blatant discrimination shown by school administrators,” said Kristan Hawkins,
president of Students for Life of America. “It is our hope that Parkland
High School swiftly allows the Students for Life at the school the same rights
granted to every other group on campus.”
The Thomas More Society’s lawsuit,
filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with
assistance from local co-counsel Christopher G. Sweet of the American Catholic
Lawyers Association, Inc., asks for the court to order Parkland School District
to approve Trojans for Life with the rights and privileges granted to all other
clubs.
About the
Thomas More Society: Thomas More
Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in
law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago, the
Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono
legal services from local trial courts all the way to the United States Supreme
Court. www.thomasmoresociety.org
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