Advocacy Without Lawsuits

October 2021, McLoud, OK: A public-school special-education teacher was constantly playing religious music in her classroom and discussing God with students. AU wrote to the school district, explaining that this behavior was unconstitutional and to ask that the district put a stop to it. We received a response from the district stating that they had spoken with the teacher and that the behavior would not continue.

September 2021, Washington, GA: A public high school routinely had prayer before football games over the loudspeaker. AU wrote to the school district to explain that this practice violates the separation of church and state. The school district suspended the practice, and we understand that the school district instituted a moment of silence instead.

September 2021, Lubbock, TX: A middle-school teacher had numerous religious displays in her classroom, including Latin crosses and Bible verses. AU wrote to the school district to explain that the Constitution forbids public-school teachers from displaying religious iconography in their classrooms. The district informed us that the displays have been removed from the classroom.

April 2021, Detroit, MI: AU received a complaint about the City of Detroit’s participation in the Faith Forward Fund. The Fund was intended to provide money for nonprofits, both religious and nonreligious, that had assisted the City with Covid relief efforts. But various eligibility requirements—as well as the Fund’s name—indicated that there was a preference for Fund money going to religious organizations. We wrote to the City and to the private organizers of the Fund to explain that the City could not legally be involved with the Fund if it preferred religious grantees. Our letter asked that the City and its partners ensure that nonreligious groups and religious groups be treated equally with respect to eligibility for Fund money, that this be clearly communicated to grant applicants, and that restrictions be placed on the use of the money to prevent it from being utilized for religious activity. The City of Detroit withdrew its financial contributions to the Fund, and the City and the Fund’s private organizers complied with our other requests by making clear that nonreligious groups were equally eligible for Fund grants as religious groups and by prohibiting religious uses of the grant funds.

August 2020, Martinsburg, PA: AU received a complaint regarding a decal on police vehicles in North Woodbury Township. The decal featured an image of an assault rifle and lightning bolt crossed over a sword and shield. Underneath this image was a citation to a Bible verse: Romans 13:4. The book of Romans is from the New Testament. Chapter 13 teaches that governmental authorities are appointed by God and that disobeying them is the equivalent of disobeying God. Verse 4 specifically reads: “for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” AU wrote to the Township to explain that the inclusion of a religious message on the decals was a violation of the separation of church and state and communicated a message that the Township police served only members of the favored religion. The Township then removed the Bible reference from the decals.

August 2020, Winslow, AZ: We were contacted by a large group of teachers and administrators complaining of religious content in Winslow Unified School District #1’s back-to-school kickoff event for district staff. The district’s new superintendent invited eight local religious leaders (and one other speaker who, by all accounts, still spoke about religion) to proselytize the assembled staff for a solid hour and a half, quoting the Bible, delivering prayers, telling staff that God would protect them from Covid-19, and asking staff to raise their hands if they believed in God. AU quickly wrote to the school district, demanding an immediate apology and written assurance that nothing like this would happen again. Within 24 hours both the school board and the superintendent issued separate apologies and assurances that similar conduct would not occur again.

April 2019, Las Vegas, NV: A school district was sending students to a city’s annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast. AU wrote to the district to explain that it is unconstitutional for a school district to send students to a religious activity. In response to AU’s letter, the district worked with the event’s organizer to change the event. It ceased being a prayer breakfast and became a “Mayor’s Community Breakfast,” with the religious elements replaced by events and speakers reflecting on respect, compassion, and community values.

April 2019, Oakland, CA: The University of California was considering expanding an affiliation arrangement with Dignity Health—a religiously affiliated healthcare organization governed by the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services. The affiliation would have forced University doctors and staff to comply with religion-based restrictions when working in Dignity Health facilities and would have endangered University patients’ access to healthcare based on religious dogma.

Several organizations had protested this arrangement on a variety of other grounds, but AU saw that separation-of-church-and-state concerns posed by the proposed agreement had not been raised adequately. AU brought our institutional expertise to bear by writing to the University to explain the Establishment Clause concerns raised by the proposed affiliation. Shortly after AU’s letter, the University scuttled the proposed affiliation.

April 2020, Central City, KY: The Muhlenburg County Health Department was live-streaming Christian church services on the department’s official Facebook page. AU wrote to the Department to explain that governmental transmission of religious messages violates the separation of church and state. The department then stopped the live-streaming practice.

April 2019, Columbus, GA: A Columbus Technical College professor was offering his students extra credit if they came to his church and listened to a proselytizing sermon. AU wrote to the College to explain that this behavior was unconstitutional at a public college and to ask that the College stop this practice. The College investigated and ended the practice.

February 2019, Roxboro, NC: AU received a complaint regarding a Parks and Recreation Department that was going to take local citizens on a trip to the Ark Encounter and to the Creation Museum, two venues that promote the Biblical doctrine of creationism. We wrote a letter to the department explaining that it would be unconstitutional for the government to take an official trip to either attraction. The department informed us that it had canceled the trip.

August 2018, Huntersville, NC: A charter school was holding graduation ceremonies at a church with visible religious iconography. AU wrote to the school to explain that this violated the separation of church and state and to ask the school to switch to a nonreligious venue. The school then changed the graduation venue.

July 2018, Cohasset, MA: The town of Cohasset was making plans for its 250th Anniversary. As part of the celebration, the town intended to hold a “Blessing of the Fleet,” which involves a religious leader saying a prayer over boats in the town harbor. AU wrote to Cohasset to explain that hosting a religious service during a town festival violates the separation of church and state. Our original letter received no response, so AU followed up with a public-records request to gather more concrete information about the Town’s plans. The records request prompted Cohasset to cancel the Blessing of the Fleet.

March 2018, Lockhart, TX: A county-government office displayed two Latin crosses on a wall. AU wrote to the county to explain that the display of Latin crosses on government property is unconstitutional. The county then removed the crosses.

August 2016, Louisville, KY: A court program that requires counseling for divorcing couples with children held all program activities in churches. At least one class had included overt proselytizing. AU wrote to the court to inform it of the proselytizing and of the constitutional problems with hosting a court program in churches. The court responded that the program was not supposed to include any proselytizing and that it would take steps to ensure that none occurred in the future. The court also informed us that it was working to expand the sites hosting the program to include nonreligious locations.

February 2019, Evans, GA: AU received a complaint regarding a public school using its official messaging system to call and send text messages to parents encouraging attendance at a “See You at the Pole” religious event. We wrote to the district that using school resources to promote a religious event violated the law and to ask them not to do this in the future. The district responded that they had discussed the matter with the relevant school officials and that such conduct would not occur again.

February 2019, Montrose, PA: A public school hosted an assembly featuring a speaker who told students about his Christian faith and urged students to let Jesus into their lives. AU wrote to the school district, explaining that this assembly was a flagrant violation of the rights of students and teachers, and asking the district not to allow such speakers in the future. The district responded that it had been blindsided by the religious content in the assembly and promised that there would be no religious content in future assemblies.