Sectarian Prayers Open Local Government Meetings -- In March 2007, the ACLU-NCLF filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Winston-Salem residents, Janet Joyner and Connie Blackmon, against Forsyth County, North Carolina, challenging the County Board of Commissioners’ practice of opening its meetings with sectarian prayers. On November 9, 2009, Magistrate Judge Trevor Sharpe ruled that the use of sectarian invocations to open official meetings of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. A copy of the ACLU-NCLF press release and Judge Sharpe's decision is available here. On January 28, 2010, Judge Beaty adopted the Magistrate Judge’s ruling and granted summary judgment on behalf of our clients. The order declares that the County’s prayer policy violates the Establishment Clause and enjoins the County from continuing the policy. On February 22, 2010 meeting, the County voted to appeal this decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

ACLU-NC v. North Carolina -- The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC) recently received a favorable ruling in a case brought to determine whether people of non-Christian faiths would be allowed to use religious texts other than the Christian Bible when being sworn in as jurors or witnesses in court proceedings. The lawsuit was originally filed in July 2005 in Superior Court in Wake County on behalf of the organization’s statewide membership of approximately 8,000 individuals of many different faiths, including Islam and Judaism. In November 2005, the ACLU-NC added another plaintiff to the case, Syidah Mateen. Syidah Mateen is a Muslim woman who was denied the option of using the Quran when she was being sworn in as a witness in a court proceeding in Guilford County. She was told that the only holy text used in the courtroom is the King James Version of the Bible. In May 2007, Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway ruled that people of non-Christian faiths must be allowed to use their own religious texts when being sworn in as jurors or witnesses. The State decided not to appeal the ruling.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg High School Opens School Assembly with Prayer by School Employee -- On February 23, 2009, we were contacted by a teacher at James Martin Middle School in Charlotte who reported that a school employee opened a mandatory student body assembly with a prayer, asking the students to bow their heads. We contacted the school board attorney. As a result of our contact, the school’s attorney advised that she has spoken with the principal, who was not aware of the prayer. The principal will have an all-staff meeting to advise the employees of their obligations under the First Amendment. The school board attorney also agreed to host a “refresher course” on the First Amendment for all Charlotte-Mecklenburg principals.

Creationism Taught in Macon County Schools -- An assignment was recently given to an honors biology class requiring each student to research and validate the merits of both evolution and Creationism. The ACLU-NCLF wrote a letter to the superintendent of the schools, laying out the constitutional problems with the assignment and asked that the students’ grades on the assignment not be counted and that no similar assignments be given in the future. In a telephone conversation, the Macon County school board attorney informed the ACLU-NCLF that the school board had adopted a policy that would “chang[e] the assignment in future years to make it fit constitutional standards.” The attorney stated that the school board would not take retroactive action, unless approached by individual parents who were unhappy because their children’s grades were lowered as a result of the assignment. The attorney also informed the ACLU-NCLF that the course will be taught next fall by the same teacher, but that the assignment will not be allowed again. The ACLU-NCLF will monitor this situation to ensure that similar violations do not occur.

Lumbee Student’s Efforts to Wear Ceremonial Eagle Feather at High School Graduation -- The ACLU-NCLF and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) were contacted in May by the parent of a student at Purnell Swett High School in Pembroke who wanted to wear eagle feathers on either his cap or gown during his graduation ceremony on Friday, June 13, 2008. Samuel Bird, father of Corey Bird, contacted the organizations, seeking assistance after Principal Wilkins informed Corey that he could not wear his eagle feathers in light of a mandatory graduation dress code policy that prohibited students from wearing “[m]essages, signs, markings, stringers, ribbons, etc.” on their “cap[s] or gown[s].” Corey indicated that he wanted to wear the feathers for religious and spiritual reasons in order to honor his late mother and grandfather. When it became apparent that school officials intended to stand by Principal Wilkins’s decision to prohibit Corey from wearing his feathers, ACLU-NCLF and NARF sent a letter to the school district on June 5, 2008, urging the district to reconsider its decision. Robeson County is approximately 40% Native American, principally Lumbee, according to the U.S. Census. Consequently, ACLU-NCLF and NARF argued that providing the Lumbee and other Native American students in Robeson County an opportunity to wear their eagle feathers would signify support for this significant portion of the population. The June 5th letter also explained that there is legal authority in this federal district for carving out an exception to the mandatory dress code only for those students (and their parents) who demonstrate a sincerely-held religious belief. In addition to sending the June 5th letter, Rebecca Headen, coordinator of ACLU-NCLF’s Racial Justice Project, and Katy Parker, Legal Director of ACLU-NCLF traveled to Lumberton for the Robeson County School Board meeting on June 10, 2008, and spoke on behalf of Corey and his father. Corey and his father also spoke at the school board meeting. In light of ACLU-NCLF and NARF intervention, the school board decided to resolve the matter informally and permitted Corey to wear his feathers at graduation.

Jones County High School Forced Prayer -- The mother of a student at Jones Senior High in Jones County contacted the ACLU-NCLF in the spring of 2007, to report that her daughter was being forced to pray in class everyday by her teacher and harassed when she resisted. After the ACLU-NCLF contacted the school board attorney for Jones County, the school board attorney responded with a letter outlining the steps that would be taken to ensure that such constitutional violations would not continue.

Distribution of Bibles in Public Schools -- The ACLU-NCLF continues to receive correspondence from North Carolina parents expressing concern that the Gideons are distributing Bibles in certain North Carolina public schools. During the past year, the ACLU-NCLF has sent correspondence to the school board attorneys for Cumberland and Harnett Counties, explaining the constitutional standards governing distribution of Bibles and other forms of literature from outside groups to secondary school students, as well as the impermissibility of any distribution of Bibles to elementary school students. Once informed of the law, the school board attorneys generally ensure the ACLU-NCLF that the unconstitutional practices will stop. The ACLU-NCLF is discussing strategies for resolving this matter before it becomes a problem in another school district.

Denial of Citizenship to Jehovah’s Witness Based on His Refusal To Serve in the Military -- A Jehovah's Witness contacted the ACLU-NCLF after facing problems in the naturalization process due to his faith-based convictions against serving in the military. The individual would like to take the modified naturalization oath, without affirming any willingness to bear arms on behalf of the US and to perform non-combatant services in the armed forces. The Citizenship and Immigration Services deemed the materials supplied by the individual as insufficient. The ACLU-NCLF has filed a request for a hearing. Cynthia Aziz, an immigration attorney in Charlotte from the firm of C.A. Aziz, P.A., is the ACLU-NCLF’s cooperating attorney in this case.

Religious Services for Non-English-Speaking Inmates in North Carolina Prisons -- The ACLU-NCLF was contacted by a non-English-speaking inmate in the North Carolina Department of Corrections (NC DOC) concerning his inability to participate in religious services in prison. The NC DOC currently has in place an English-only policy for religious services, thereby denying access to many inmates who may wish to engage in group religious activities but cannot do so due to a language barrier. In a letter to the North Carolina Division of Prisons, the ACLU-NCLF stressed its concerns that the English-only policy violated the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion and also violated Section 3 of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). After sending a letter to the NC Division of Prisons, the ACLU-NCLF was informed that the NC Division of Prisons is now in the process of reviewing its policy and reviewing the need for religious services in languages other than English. The NC Division of Prisons has further agreed to review individual requests for non-English religious services. The ACLU-NCLF will continue to monitor this situation to ensure that policies and procedures are adopted that comply with constitutional and legal requirements.

Halfway House Prohibition on Consumption of Wine for Religious Purposes -- A concerned former resident of Dismas Charities Community Correction Center in Greensboro contacted the ACLU-NCLF to report that he was not allowed the consumption of wine during communion services even after informing officials at the halfway house that consuming wine during the communion was part of his religious obligations. The ACLU-NCLF wrote Dismas Charities a letter, advising them of their obligations under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. Additionally, a relevant Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) provision provides for an exemption for the religious consumption of wine, provided that it takes place on the premises and is administered by BOP chaplains or volunteer or contract clergy authorized by the BOP. As a result of the ACLU-NCLF’s involvement, Dismas Charities revised its policy to bring it into compliance with federal law.

Pledge of Allegiance Statute -- After the passage of Session Law 2006-137, which amends several North Carolina statutes pertaining to the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in state public schools, the ACLU-NCLF received several complaints from parents and teachers who contend that children in North Carolina public schools are being compelled to recite the Pledge and are not being informed that they have the right to refuse to stand, salute the flag, or recite the Pledge, even though North Carolina law clearly provides that a public school “shall not compel any person to stand, salute the flag, or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.” As a result, the ACLU-NCLF sent a letter to the State Superintendent, the Chairman of the North Carolina Board of Education and Lt. Governor Purdue, asking those state officials to immediately instruct all North Carolina Boards of Education to ensure that all public school principals and teachers are aware of this aspect of the law. The State Board Chairman responded, ensuring that all North Carolina superintendents and principals would again be notified that students and teachers may not be compelled to recite the Pledge.

Enloe High School Proselytizing - The ACLU-NCLF successfully intervened on behalf of the father of a student at Enloe High School in Raleigh, who contacted the ACLU-NC to report that students in a social sciences class at Enloe had been subjected to blatant proselytizing by a speaker invited to address the class by teacher Robert Escamilla. On May 23, 2007, the school district issued a press release, which acknowledged that the speaker’s comments “denigrated Muslims and the Islam religion, while promoting Christianity.” The school district apologized to the Muslim community and issued a new policy that specifically prohibits outside speakers from proselytizing and from denigrating any culture, race, gender, national origin or religion.

The Right to Religious Diet -- The ACLU-NCLF intervened after an urgent call from a Jewish psychiatric patient at the VA Medical Clinic in Salisbury, NC, who stated that he was being denied kosher meals. Counsel for the VA contended that the patient was not entitled to receive kosher meals. After we sent a letter to the VA attorney, outlining the VA’s requirements under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the First Amendment, the Hospital began providing kosher meals to the patient.