Jail Sued Over Reading Material

A South Carolina County Sheriff, Wayne DeWitt and county jail officials are being sued over denying inmates access to reading materials other than the Bible. The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Charleston by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the plaintiff, Prison Legal News, alleges that the jail does not deliver publications to inmate cells, violating the First Amendment right of free speech.

"Many detainees are held at the Detention Center -- and thus deprived of all access to magazines, newspapers and books other than the Bible -- for months and years on end," the lawsuit alleges.

The litigation goes on to say copies of the magazine and other materials from that company were returned stamped "Info not allowed," "Book not allowed" and "Magazines not allowed."

Another Fine Post from: No 2 Religion - Just Say No!

Related articles

• APNewsBreak: ACLU sues SC jail over Bible policy (sfgate.com)
• Nothing but Bibles for Inmates at South Carolina Prison (criminaljustice.change.org)

Fresno City College Instructor Teaching More Than Science

Do these teachers think they won't get caught or do they just not think. If they do not think then what are they doing teaching.

ACLU Accuses Calif. Instructor of Religion Lessons 

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Published: February 8, 2010

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union says a science instructor at a public community college in California is improperly teaching religious views on homosexuality and abortion as fact.
ACLU staff attorney Elizabeth Gill sent a letter to Fresno City College officials on Monday about the introductory science class instructor, Bradley Lopez. Gill says Lopez's teaching methods violate California laws protecting gays from discrimination and prohibiting religious indoctrination at public schools.
Gill says several students have complained that he quoted the Bible to prove that human life begins at conception. They also say he characterized homosexuality as a mental illness that degrades society.
Telephone calls to Lopez and a college spokeswoman were not immediately returned.

Of Rainbow's, Tuxedo's and Gays

Image via Wikipedia

The ACLU has been tracking stories of discrimination of gay public school students. It bothers me to no end that stories like this are all to frequent. But, it does not surprise me that both of these stories take place in the south - no offense to my southern atheist friends. Will these people ever learn!

What Were They Thinking?!?
Banning Tuxedos and Rainbows

Earlier this month, the ACLU heard of a story about a young woman—a straight A student, goalie on the soccer team and a trumpet player—who was denied a photo in her school yearbook because she was wearing a tuxedo.
School officials told Ceara Sturgis, an openly gay senior at Wesson Attendance Center in Wesson, MS, that her photo would not appear in the yearbook because in it she is wearing a tuxedo, not the traditional drape worn by other female students. Assistant Superintendent Robert Holloway informed Ceara's mother that there was no policy in the student handbook requiring females to wear drapes.
 
>>Learn more about the case in Mississippi.

This reminds us of another ridiculous case in Florida where school officials tried to limit the self expression of students by banning rainbows—any kind of rainbow—including Reading Rainbow, the Apple logo and Pink Floyd t-shirts.

Thankfully, the case in Florida ended in a victory for First Amendment rights.

Check out the video to see the school board fight the insidious “Reading Rainbow” logo.

The ACLU is fighting for the First Amendment rights of students throughout the country. Trying to remove photos of women in tuxedos and rainbows at schools makes us really wonder: What were they thinking?!?