Posted on 11/18/2005 9:23:45 AM PST by Jay777
SAN FRANCISCO - Christian students and parents cannot sue a school district where some seventh-graders pretended to be Muslims for three weeks during a course in world history, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the role-playing game was not a religious exercise that violated anybody’s constitutional rights.
The decision was issued one day after the U.S. House of Representatives chastised the 9th Circuit for ruling earlier this month that parents can’t sue public schools for providing information about sex. That decision “deplorably infringed on parental rights,” said the House resolution. Thursday’s decision came down in an unpublished memorandum, indicating the judges considered it routine.
They reviewed the method used by one teacher in Byron, Contra Costa County, four years ago to teach the unit on Muslim history, culture and religion that is part of the state’s seventh-grade history curriculum.
Brooke Carlin encouraged her students to play at being Muslims - adopt Muslim names, recite a line from a prayer and give up candy or television to simulate fasting, for example. Students were permitted to opt out. On the final exam they were asked to critique elements of Muslim culture.
Jonas and Tiffany Eklund sued, along with their children. San Francisco U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton dismissed the suit two years ago, saying Carlin was merely teaching and not indoctrinating. Hamilton found that the students did not engage in actual religious exercises.
The 9th Circuit upheld her decision in a five-sentence ruling, saying only that the activities weren’t “overt religious exercises” that would raise concerns under the First Amendment prohibition of “establishment of religion.”
Senior Circuit Judge Dorothy Nelson of Pasadena and Circuit Judges Johnnie Rawlinson of Las Vegas and Carlos Bea of San Francisco signed the decision.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Thomas Jefferson fired half the judiciary when he was elected president.
"Any law says you can't cut their pay?"
again, that's above my paygrade. LOL
but I doubt it... Congress would have to probably vote to cut their pay...and that would mean cutting ALL of the judges pay...wouldn't fly
why not just eliminate the 9th Circuit and start over...
of course the 'Rats would have a cow if the GOP even thought about doing it.
"This is so completely and totally WRONG!"
Ditto. This mindset of continually taxing the "rich" will make the rich leave California, and then who's going to support the "poor" that Meathead is so worried about? But the biggest problem I see is the government running daycare. Good grief. Next the government will try to take babies from their mothers' breasts and put them into these government-indoctrination centers. Look what a great job public schools are doing (sarcasm) - do we want them to have even more influence over the young at an even younger age? So those fools can ask pre-schoolers about their sexual thoughts, and the 9th Circus will think it's fine. Disgusting.
"Thomas Jefferson fired half the judiciary when he was elected president."
well then, I stand corrected.
told ya, this was above my "paygrade." LOL
Cool! Then from there, people in the class should then become Crusaders, and be given Christian names, and learn about the Church as well! The 9th Circus Court would certainly have to agree with that.
Mark
...and here, I didn't know I was raising MY kids like a Muslim.
Yeah, you're right. I'd like to see them reassigned to the 0th court of appeals where their jurisdiction is livestock contests at the nation's county fairs.
IF this had happened with my son or me, I would have equipped him with a kafiyyeh that I took off an Iraqi in the first gulf war, an AK-47, some fake explosives and sent him in to dominate, rob and pillage the school using various muslim verses as his excuses.
I would have also had him blow off every reading and math class in that 3 weeks (Mohammed was illerate).
For the final exam I would have told him to go fetch 4 1st grader girls to call his wives.
As soon as the teacher freaked out, I would have told her that I was just being a normal muslim and following the habits of Mohammed.
Very good!
Who is in charge of the "sample" wife-beating?
Where does honor-killings fit into the class schedule?
But GOD forbid if the students pretended to be Christian Americans.
No, it doesn't. I know lots of people who've left California....for Colorado and other more conservative states. They've never looked back.
If they look back they might turn to stone.
ooops.....you've said the "G" word.
True....or pillars of salt....especially if they look back in the direction of San Francisco. : )
I believe their pay CAN be cut, or shall we say the court can be defunded.
Having children recite the Lord's Prayer in the classroom: Unconstitutional.
Having children unwittingly be placed at risk of being considered muslim by reciting the shadada: Perfectly acceptable.
And then there are the wonderful holy practices of genital mutilation and honor killing.
My only fear is they get a federal bailout when the govt fails. Like NO.
There has been some talk about creating a 10th circuit and breaking up the justices on the 9th...some in the 9th and some in a new 10th and then add judges who understand law and have common sense to fill the vacancies in the 9th and to flesh out the rest of a 10th.
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