Amended complaint filed in "Beginner's Bible" case

Oct 11, 2001

An amended complaint has been filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in the case of Carol Hood v. Medford Township Board of Education. On August 28, 2001, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had deadlocked 6-6 on the main portion of the complaint, dealing with a public school teacher's refusal to allow first grade student Zachary Hood read a story to his classmates from his "Beginner's Bible."

The appeals court remanded the case to the district court to allow Carol Hood, Zachary's mother, to amend allegations involving an incident involving a Thanksgiving poster while Zachary was in Kindergarten. He and his classmates were invited to draw a poster illustrating something they were "thankful for," and Zachary drew a picture of Jesus. "Subsequently, one or more employees of [the school] removed Zachary's poster because of its religious theme," and did so because of "a policy, custom or practice" of deliberately excluding materials of a religious nature from the classroom, according to the amended complaint.

As a result, "Zachary was denied his rights of Freedom of Expression and Free Exercise as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States," the complaint states.

Carol Hood is represented in the case by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and by local counsel F. Michael Dailey, of Quinlan, Dunne & Daily, who presented today's filing to the court.

Relevant Cases

• Hood v. Medford Township Board of Education