Kountze Cheerleaders Have Spirit, How About You?

Liberty Institute Attorney Cheers On Heroism of Kountze ISD Cheerleaders and Parents during Wide Awake Rally Tonight at 7 PM

KOUNTZE, Texas, Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Liberty Institute's Senior Counsel Mike Johnson is scheduled to participate in the Wide Awake Rally to encourage the heroism of Kountze High School cheerleaders and their parents who stood up for their religious speech rights against the district's unlawful censorship of student-made banners at football games.  The rally is being held tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7 PM – about one week before a state judge at Hardin County District Court will hear arguments in the lawsuit to permanently end the ban on banners containing religious messages.

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The public rally will be held at the Great Lawn in the Beaumont Event Center, located at 700 Crockett Street in Beaumont, TX. Christian band Over Everest and speaker Kacy Benson will also participate.  Hundreds throughout the community are expected to attend.

"I can't express just how proud we are of these cheerleaders who have stood strong in the face of this attempt to censor and silence their religious speech on banners," said Johnson. "This is a quintessential example of students' private speech being censored unnecessarily by uninformed school officials. This is a well-established principle of constitutional law that students don't have to shed their constitutional rights of free speech when they enter the school house gate."

This week Liberty Institute will launch a public petition drive to encourage Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to support the Kountze cheerleaders' religious freedom rights.  For details, visit www.LibertyInstitute.org.

Last week Liberty Institute and Beaumont attorney David Starnes, on behalf of the Kountze High School cheerleaders, were granted a temporary restraining order from the Hardin County District Court, permitting Kountze ISD students to continue exercising their right to make and display banners with religious messages at scheduled sporting events. The Hardin County Court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 4.

Liberty Institute is a nonprofit legal group dedicated to defending and restoring religious liberty across America — in our schools, for our churches and throughout the public arena. Liberty's vision is to reestablish religious liberty in accordance with the principles of our Founding Fathers. For information, visit www.LibertyInstitute.org.

SOURCE Liberty Institute