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</p>All high school math teacher Bradley Johnson wanted to do was honor our nations history and religious heritage the same way he always had. <ahref="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/02/judge-sides-teacher-god-banners-display/">For twenty five years, a red, white and blue-striped banner adorned his classroom walls with national maxims such as In God We Trust, One Nation Under God, God Bless America, and God Shed his Grace On Thee. A second banner accompanied it, containing an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence, All Men are Created Equal and They Are Endowed by Their Creator.
But displaying a portion of the Declaration of Independence and other national mottos was just too offensive to the Poway Unified School District in San Diego. It ordered Johnson to remove the banners from his classroom because they over-emphasized God one school official said it might offend Muslim students. Fortunately, Johnson went to federal court to fight this absurd order (represented by the <ahref="http://www.thomasmore.org/default-sb_thomasmore.html?988880910">Thomas More Law Center), and even more fortunately, given that California is in the 9th Circuit, the most liberal appeals circuit in the nation, a federal judge found on February 26 that the school boards actions violated Mr. Johnsons constitutional rights.<spanid="more-28223"></span>
Judge Roger T. Benitez did not allow the censorship because it has been clear for over 90 years that teachers do not lose their constitutional rights inside the schoolhouse gate, and that government may not squelch one viewpoint while favoring another.
It turned out that the school district allowed teachers to display other posters promoting controversial political issues such as gay rights and global warming, and banners showing other religious preferences such as Tibetan prayer flags, Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhis Seven Social Sins, and John Lennon and the lyrics of his song Imagine, which opens with lyrics about no heaven, no hell, and no religion. The school district just seemed to have a problem with Christian religious and American patriotic sentiments.
No student, parent or school administrator had ever objected to Johnsons banners until January 23, 2007, when the entire school board ordered Johnson to remove the posters which conveyed a Judeo-Christian viewpoint.
Judge Benitez was scathing in his denunciation of the school board, which apparently feared that students are incapable of dealing with diverse viewpoints that include Gods place in American history and culture. The fact that God places prominently in our Nations history does not create an Establishment Clause violation requiring curettage and disinfectant for Johnsons public high school classroom walls. The board not only failed to comply with the long-standing policy that a teachers classroom walls serve as a limited public forum for a teacher to convey non-curriculum messages, but also went so far as to silence Johnsons speech.
Judge Benitez cracked down on the boards bias, concluding that by squelching Johnsons patriotic and religious viewpoint, while permitting speech promoting Buddhist, Hindu, and anti-religious viewpoints, Defendants clearly abridged Johnsons constitutional free speech rights. An imaginary Islamic student was not entitled to a hecklers veto on a teachers passive, popular or unpopular, expression.
This is a common-sense decision that hostility towards our nations history, its religious heritage, and expressions of patriotism will not be tolerated in our public school classrooms. Hopefully, other school boards around the country will take notice.
Colleen Kaveney currently is a member of the Young Leaders Program at the Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please visit: <ahref="http://www.heritage.org/about/departments/ylp.cfm">http://www.heritage.org/about/departments/ylp.cfm