Supreme Court is Asked to Take "Beginner's Bible" Case

Nov 22, 2000

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case of a New Jersey boy who was barred from reading a favorite story to his first grade class because it came from his Beginner's Bible. The request for a writ of certiorari notes that the central issue in the case is identical to that presented in Good News Club v. Milford Central School, which the Court has already accepted for argument this term. The Becket Fund case, now known as Hood v. Medford Township Board of Education, is "a helpful companion case to Good News Club," the brief states.

The key question in both cases is whether a public school system can engage in viewpoint-based discrimination by censoring speech simply because it is religious. In the Good News Club case, a New York school refused to allow a religious group to use a public school building after school hours, even though it allows other similar but non-religious groups to use the facilities. In Hood v. Medford Township Board of Education, the teacher's refusal to allow Zachary Hood to read a story from his Beginner's Bible took place during school hours.

The entire Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, heard the Carol Hood case (then entitled C.H. v. Oliva) in February of this year. On August 28, 2000, the twelve member appeals court divided evenly in the case (6-6), and by their inability to attain a majority, effectively affirmed a district court decision favoring the school system.

The Becket Fund petition notes that this issue has created serious conflict among the federal circuit courts around the country. In addition to the Third Circuit, the Second, Fifth and Ninth Circuits have issued decisions allowing viewpoint discrimination against religious speech, while the Seventh, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits have forbidden such discrimination. Thus, there is "not merely a 6-6 split within the Third Circuit but a 4-4 split among the circuits," The Becket Fund notes.

Relevant Cases

• Hood v. Medford Township Board of Education