ADDENDUM::California's Springs Charter Schools Purge 'Christian' Books From School Libraries - The New Civil Rights Movement

Jean Ann Esselink writing over at New Civil Rights Movement offers this bit of narrative:

Brad Dacus, president of PJI, has sent a letter warning the school district that it is "violating the First Amendment by removing library books based on their perceived Christian content." PJI says they will sue if the schools do not cease their "ill-conceived and illegal book-banning policy.”

“It is alarming that a school library would attempt to purge books from religious authors. This is a major sweep by this charter school to eliminate the religious viewpoint. Libraries cannot engage in an open purging of books simply because they are of a Christian perspective.”

Responding to the threat, Springs Charter Schools Superintendent Kathleen Hermsmeyer informed lawyers for PJI that she was attempting to bring the school district into compliance with state law, writing:

“We do not purchase sectarian educational materials and do not allow sectarian materials on our state-authorized lending shelves.”

Pressing their point, the Pacific Justice Institute cited a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that says local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books, or seek to remove books to "prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.”

Ms. Hermsmeyer responded to the charge, denying the schools were discriminating against Christian authors or publishing companies, saying all religious material was being removed, no matter the source, writing:

“At no time, however, have we discriminated against Christian authors or publishing companies who create secular educational materials. We are a public school, and as such, we are barred by law from purchasing sectarian curriculum materials with state funds. We only keep on our shelves the books that we are authorized to purchase with public funds.”

California's Springs Charter Schools Purge 'Christian' Books From School Libraries - The New Civil Rights Movement

ADDENDUM::Politichicks.com California Charter School Refuses to Reverse Decision to Ban Christian Books - Politichicks.com

So usually when I look at articles I start from the beginning and work my way through. But what stuck me was how this article ended.

What we have here is an overt control of the thought police. When people practice bullying (whether verbal or physical) or murder, the motivation is first and the thought is second. Historically, it has always been the negative act was prosecuted which was sufficient. Now we have a double jeopardy, adding an extra penalty for the thoughts that preceded the cause. This is overkill; but even worse, the thought policy is being embraced—very chilling indeed!

So upon discovering that this was a state funded charter school, that the term "library" was misapplied, and by all accounts the issue is curriculum and text books, Sloane has chosen the route of Christian persecution and being bullied..  Surprise, surprise,,,NOT!!

You see there are two very important points being left out of this narrative. The first being that this incident occurred over the summer. Second, Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Hermsmeyer addressed the issue concerning what the "library" actually is but yet PJI is grossly missing the point and pushing an issue that doesn't even exist.

Sloane in her OP cited Hermsmeyer's press release. Pay attention to the ellipses,,,

“On August 22, Michael Peffer of the Pacific Justice Institute contacted my office at Springs Charter Schools about a conversation…between a parent of a Springs Charter Schools’ student and an employee of Springs Charter Schools, neither of whom were identified. The conversation took place in the Springs Resource Library, which is a warehouse for textbooks we use in our school programs…

Now here is the actual press release, the bold text is what Sloane left out.

“On August 22, Michael Peffer of the Pacific Justice Institute contacted my office at Springs Charter Schools about a conversation that had occurred last summer between a parent of a Springs Charter Schools student and an employee of Springs Charter School, neither of whom were identified. The conversation took place in the Springs Resource Library, which is a warehouse for textbooks we use in our school programs (it is not actually a library, in fact, we have since renamed it the Curriculum Warehouse to eliminate any confusion). Due to the fact that our schools are independent study charter schools, we do not maintain traditional lending libraries. According to the letter, the unidentified Springs employee told the unidentified parent that he/she was instructed to “remove all books with a Christian message, authored by Christians, or published by a Christian publishing company.”

So why is this important, that this occurred over the summer?

Like any brick and mortar school with a library (in this case a curriculum warehouse), the summer months are taken up with administrative duties which included cataloging, organizing, repair and/or replacement, cleaning and much more. Part of those duties would also include making sure that materials the school supplies are compliant with the laws of their respective state. My guess is that disgruntled parent came in on a day of organizing and, observed a staff member removing donated sectarian reading material. Wondering as to why, a question was asked, but the answer may not have been as clear and concise as it should have been.

I can see the disgruntled parent being a bit perplexed. I can even see them contacting JPI for clarification. What I can't see is how JPI, Starnes et al can so ignore the clarification presented by Hermsmeyer

As Hermsmeyer stated in her letter to JPI,

,,,like every other public school in the State of California, we cannot legally maintain religious textbooks on our warehouse shelves for distribution to our families. Donated items are made available to our families at no cost. Any and all donated items are not incorporated onto the shelves of our Curriculum Warehouse. The only materials we maintain on the shelves of our Curriculum Warehouse are items we have purchased ourselves in accordance with the laws of our State.

I don't know much more succinct Hermsmeyer could be.  JPI's response to Hermsmeyer also make no sense what-so-ever. Their insistence on using the word "library" when they know it is not a library is mind boggling.

I saw the school’s press release, and this is not a reversal of their decision at all. People might argue whether or not they are legally obligated to take the books off the shelves if they are text books or part of the curriculum. We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about books that have a library book type marking, as opposed to donated books being given away because they can’t have them in the library. The school’s press release has made the issue more confusing than it was before. She appears to be mushing together the issue of textbooks versus non-textbooks.
,,,
Is the employee who told our clients they had to “remove all books with a Christian message, authored by Christians, or published by a Christian publishing company” right or wrong? If that happened, it doesn’t matter—it’s way too overbroad; however, if we get information that shows we’re wrong, we’ll say it. We always do. In this case, we believe the information we obtained from a parent is reliable.

Whether the employee spoke hastily or mis-worded their response is moot. Whether the disgruntled parent heard only what they wanted to hear is moot. What matters is the law.

Politichicks.com California Charter School Refuses to Reverse Decision to Ban Christian Books - Politichicks.com

UPDATE::School accused of 'purging' Christian books

So I have been trying to get more info about this incident and it hasn't been easy.  MSM either is unaware or they are taking a wait and see approach.  Other than some cranky "we Christians are a persecuted bunch" type sites using Starnes and PJI as source there isn't much out there.  But I did find one article that had an interesting discussion taking place in the comments that may offer some clarity to the matter.

It starts with Peggy Muller's, September 28, 2014 at 3:42 pm comment.

River Springs Charter School is a public charter school which supports homeschool families. The problem here is the term “library” is confusing people. This is not a library in the traditional brick and mortar sense of a on site public school library. This is actually a resource center which carries public school curriculum which parents can borrow. As such it cannot stock specifically Christian materials to be used by the parents to implement what is a public school education.

Let me clarify. I would not be able to demand a public school use Bob Jones or Abeka math curriculum at a traditional public school,,, On the other hand, the school cannot stock textbooks and curriculum which is produced by Christian textbook/curriculum publishers,,, they have to abide by state criteria in that curriculum offered and paid for by the school must be non-sectarian. Again, this is not a “library.” It is a resource center to house public school curriculum, not necessarily recreational reading material, to be used by the parent to implement a public school education.

Muller then continues to clarify some of the points asked by the OP.  What is important and IMO what Starnes and PJI intentionally "blurred" in their presentation of their facts, this is not a traditional library, "This is actually a resource center which carries public school curriculum which parents can borrow."

So PJI is either a bunch of lazy lawyers who have no clue how to fact check, and the last people I would want representing me in a court of law.  Or they have and agenda, which we already know that they do.

School accused of 'purging' Christian books | Fox News

Starnes may be at it again, waiting on more information to become available. Whether legally right or wrong, I do not believe in the banning of any book.

“We do not purchase sectarian educational materials and do not allow sectarian materials on our state-authorized lending shelves,” Superintendent Kathleen Hermsmeyer wrote in a letter to attorneys at the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI).

[,,,]
Pacific Justice Institute is representing a parent who discovered what they called a “Christian purging” of the charter school’s library.

“She was told by one of the library attendants that the library has been instructed to remove all books with a Christian message, authored by Christians, or published by a Christian publishing company,” read a letter PJI sent to the public charter school. “The attendant advised that the library would no longer be carrying those books. Indeed, our client was told that the library was giving those books away, and she actually took some.”

Among the books deemed inappropriate, the PJI said, was “The Hiding Place” the biography of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who was imprisoned by the Germans for helping Jews escape the Holocaust.

Odd that they choose this book to highlight as I met Ten Boom in 86 or 87 when she was doing a book tour for Tramp for the Lord.  There was a screening of "The Hiding Place" prior to her "talk" (she had recently had a stroke so another individual spoke in her place).  Through high-school and college I did numerous book reports and a speech on the inspiration gained for her "testimony." Oh the memories,,,

“It is alarming that a school library would attempt to purge books from religious authors,” said Brad Dacus, president of the religious advocacy group. “This is a major sweep by this charter school to eliminate the religious viewpoint. Libraries cannot engage in an open purging of books simply because they are of a Christian perspective.”

Dacus said the charter school must reverse “their ill-conceived and illegal book-banning policy.” If they fail to do so, he said, PJI is prepared to take further legal action.

And there is a first for everything, Starnes actually cited case law.  To bad the case isn't actually there which is odd since the last update occurred at 9:01AM today,

Pacific Justice Institute said the charter school has violated the First Amendment. They cited a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that said “local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to ‘prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.’” If you’d like to read the entire case – it’s “Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico.”

Here is the actual case if interested.

School accused of 'purging' Christian books | Fox News

Student punished for saying "bless you" | Fox News

So here is the original hyperbolic rant from Todd Starnes Student punished for saying "bless you" | Fox News , as usual it is lacking in credibility and I'm a bit confused. According to Starnes,

Kendra says she was tossed out of the class and sent to the principal’s office where things apparently went from bad to worse.

“The assistant principal said if I didn’t want to respect my teacher’s rules then maybe my pastor should teach me because my freedom (of) speech and religion does not work at their school,” she wrote.

As you might imagine the school has a very different take on what happened inside that classroom._

Starnes continues by citing this article,

“We can’t discuss discipline issues because of right to privacy of students,” assistant principal Lynn Garner told the Dyersburg Gazette. “But I can say there are two sides to every story. Sometimes people spin things and turn them to make them seem one way.”

The assistant principal said Kendra was sent to In School Suspension as a matter of protocol. She was allowed to leave at the end of the class period.

Which is problematic as no where in this article is there a direct quote attributed to the assistant Principal stating that Kendra was sent to ISS. What it does say is this,

Shortly after, Turner was reportedly instructed to go to the principal's office, where she was placed in ISS for the remainder of the period. The decision by the DCHS administration to place Turner in ISS was one normally followed on a daily basis according to Garner. Once classes changed, Turner was allowed to attend her next class. <--Not a quote

"The majority of the time, when a student comes to the office either voluntarily or was sent by a teacher, they are placed in ISS until the end of the period because we have two supervisors in there to watch them," said Garner. "Also, it gives us a chance to find out what the situation is and what happened in the classroom for them to be in the office in the first place. In this case, this was not a religious issue at all, but more of an issue the teacher felt was a distraction in her class." <--Does not say Kendra was sent to ISS, only what the school's protocol is.

The author of the Dyersburg State Gazette article took the word(s) of the student, Kendra Turner, and misapplied the schools protocol as stated by the DCHS Assistant Principal Lynn Garner, making it look as if Garnerstated that Kendra was given ISS.

BUT,,,

And this is where things get a bit odd and contradictory according to Hemant Mehta, following her initial posting, Kendra added more detail in subsequent online contact (here and  here.)

 Hemant being the diligent activist AND former high-school teacher, called up the Principal Peggy Dodds:

"According to Dodds, Turner was not given an in-school suspension. She wasn’t sent out of the classroom, either — she chose to walk out. And, most importantly, she wasn’t punished by the teacher for saying “God bless you” — however, the teacher did admonish her for “disrupting the classroom.”

Hemant concludes with this,

If Turner’s story is accurate, then sure, the teacher should be reprimanded. It’s not a crime to say “God bless you” and students have every right to practice their faith at school (without causing distractions).

But we’ve heard stories like this before, and they’re almost never accurate. It helps to hear what all sides have to say before jumping to any conclusions.

There's more, Hemant's follow-up.

The ACLU also had this to say in their overview of the incident so far,

Now, it is worth noting that Kindle may have opened herself up to criticism with a posted list of banned words. Perhaps she was listing words that students commonly yell out in class. But rather than picking and choosing what students can or can’t say, she should simply have a policy that prohibits disruptive outbursts of any kind in class. That way no one can claim discrimination. (By the way, whatever happened to raising your hand if you have something to say in class?)

Unbiased media outlets really need to take note of Mehta’s work. Rather than running with a report based mostly off of a kid’s social media post, they have an obligation to get both sides of the story. In this case, many news outlets were far too easily satisfied when the school either declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond.

And finally the possible impetus behind it all,,,

But I suspect there’s more going on here. This scene of a Christian student leading a class in protest against a supposedly anti-Christian educator isn’t an isolated event. A week earlier, a professor at the University of Central Florida sent an open letter to his class after a student allegedly stood up in class and called on his fellow students to refuse to participate in a discussion of “religious bigotry.”

The cultural “script” for both of these incidents appears to be Harold Cronk’s recent film “God’s Not Dead,” in which Radisson (Kevin Sorbo), a philosophy professor, requires his freshman students to sign a pledge avowing that, “God is dead.” One Christian student (played by Shane Harper) resists, rhetorically humiliating Radisson in front of his class, and inspires non-Christian classmates to convert. The film, an over-the-top piece of anti-intellectualism, portrays educators as modern-day Pharisees who promote ideology rather than critical thinking.

So it’s hardly surprising that some Christian students began performing this script in the first week of classes. By equating educators with the villains of the New Testament, ordinary classroom encounters can be transformed into an extension of Biblical narratives. In Cronk’s film, Harper’s character is compared to a Christian facing martyrdom in the Coliseum. Why would anyone want to be an ordinary student when they could be a hero of Biblical proportions? The “God’s Not Dead” script also harnesses ordinary adolescent resistance to authority and gives it cosmic significance. Swenson said of school authorities, “I want them to realize that God is in control and they’re not.”

Jason Bivins notes that for the New Christian Right, schools are a site not just of political but cosmic struggle against the forces of evil. This is a worldview in which ordinary policies can be seen as demonic persecution. Just as claims of a “War on Christmas” equated saying “Happy Holidays” with anti-Christian hostility, policies about saying “bless you” at inappropriate times may soon become the next battlefield of the culture wars.

Three things to note in all of this:

1. Kendra Turner is being representative by Jeremy Dys of Liberty Counsel fame.
2. In the various news reports there are no on camera interviews with any school officials.  
3. FERP, the why behind the schools silence.

School removes plaques honoring God - Fox

Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for the Liberty Institute, tells me the atheists don’t have a legal leg to stand on.

“Unless there is a parent with a student who attends the school and is offended, then there is no one with legal standing to even file a lawsuit,” Sasser told me. “The censorship of these plaques sends a message of division and hostility to the community.”

He said FFRF sends about 1,000 demand letters a year – but they only have the budget to back up about a dozen with lawsuits.

“No school should ever take action based on an FFRF letter,” he said.

School removes plaques honoring God - Fox

Women ordered to stop praying inside mall | Fox News

I am starting a new "series" called the Starnes Watch. Let's see how much of his pandering turns out to be an accurate portrayal of events or hyperbole. Here's our first one which takes place in Georgia.

It’s not uncommon for shopping malls to have rules of conduct. Some places ban saggy pants. Others won’t let you ask people for money. But a mall in Georgia may have one of the most unusual rules -- they won’t let shoppers pray – not even over their meals.

Meet Tammy Brantley of Dublin, Ga. She’s a wife, a mom and an avid power walker. She’s also a person of deep faith in God.

Tammy is the co-founder of “Dublin Girls Run,” a group of local ladies that combines Southern fellowship with physical fitness.

[,,,]
A few weeks ago the Dublin Girls had gathered inside the local mall for an evening power walk. They formed a small circle and as they had done many times before, they bowed their heads to petition the Almighty.

But before one of the runners could say, “Lord Jesus,” she was interrupted by a mall cop barreling down a corridor.

“The security guard came running toward us and said, ‘You are not allowed to pray at the mall. That’s against the policy,’” Tammy told me.

The ladies were aghast.

SCORE:: B/B+

By all accounts that I could find what is presented is accurate, BUT,,,

"Meanwhile, the Dublin Girls are searching for a new place to power walk. Tammy said she understands that the mall is indeed private property and they have a right to dictate appropriate rules and regulations."

"[T]he mall is indeed private property"  that is the key.  Brantley states as much in a July 24th posting to her public F/B account:

"However, I had a long conversation with the property Manager over the mall. They are in fact, privately owned..therefore we must abide by their rules. I was told in this conversation that this rule has been set forth to not offend other religions and people who walk through the doors. They feel that if they allow one religious group to pray and worship..they would have to let them all. They will not allow prayer vigils or outward displays of faith. My response to him was that we should not ever worry or fear offense when we are standing for God,,, I told him that I refuse to let anything cause the ladies to not be able to focus on that because of the fear of ridicule or intimidation. I will allow all of you to make your decision based on how God lead's you. BUT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS WE CAN DO AS CHRISTIANS IS TO PRAY THAT GOD WILL REIGN DOMINION OVER THE MALL AND THE OWNERS."

Exactly which "God" is Brantley referring to?  Would she be without object to a group of Sikhs practicing Nitnem banis prior to their workout.  Or how about a Hindu group saying the Prārthana?

Sounds a bit like Christian privilege to me - I don't like your rules but because I am a Christian, your rules do not or should not apply to me (but they do apply to everyone else who isn't a Christina like me. )

Sound familiar?  It should because that is the same logic behind the "religious liberty" legislation being pushed by Alliance Defending Freedom.

Brantley went from understanding that the mall property is privately owned with their own rules, ",,, if they allow one religious group to pray and worship, they would have to let them all. " To, the incident being a case of discrimination.  This being said in an August 2nd public posting

"I remembered that in any discrimination case, nothing was ever done until someone had the guts to say no. Because of those not afraid, MLK, Rosa Parks to name a few... we all have rights to speak freely and PRAY freely."

So it is okay for a privately owned "Christian" bakery or a privately owned "Christian" photography studio to plead for the ability to discriminate based on religious beliefs but a a privately owned mall with a policy banning all - not just Christian - religious expression is now being crucified for exercising the same rights.  Something that  Starnes nor Brantley seem to understand.

Women ordered to stop praying inside mall | Fox News

Please note that I have left out any links connecting to Mrs. Brantley's page out of respect.  Although her name is public as is her F/B account (for the moment) I personally do not believe she is ready for the shitstorm that is to come.