School Board Member Sues for Right to Recite Bible Verses
Since she began serving on her local school board in Arizona in January, Heather Rooks has made it a practice to begin her meeting comments by reading a Scripture verse she found encouraging.\nRooks says citing Scriptures such as Isaiah 41:10\u2014\u201cDo not fear for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God\u201d\u2014served as an inspiration to her.\n\u201cI continued to do it, because it really gave me a lot of strength and courage, and just really brought me peace while I'm up there making those big decisions when it comes to children,\u201d she says.\nBut it did not take long before the mother of four was told she had to stop the practice.\nRooks' Scripture reading drew objection from inside and even outside the school district, and she received a \u201ccease and desist\u201d letter from a secular organization that told her she had to stop her practice because it violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment. After receiving the letter, Rooks contacted First Liberty Institute, a Texas-based conservative law firm specializing in religious freedom.\nRooks\u2019 actions are \u201cclearly within the framework of legislative acknowledgements of religion,\u201d says Hiram Sasser, Rooks' attorney.\nOf behalf of Rooks, First Liberty Institute has served the Peoria Unified School District\xa0in Glendale, Arizona, with a lawsuit holding that it's within the school board member's rights to read Scripture at the meetings.\nRooks and Sasser join \u201cThe Daily Signal Podcast\u201d to discuss the lawsuit and explain why citing Scripture at a school board meeting is not a violation of the establishment clause.\nEnjoy the show!\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.