Student Files Suit Against Dixon School District for Taking Down Pro-Life Posters

A Dixon High School senior is suing the Dixon R-1 School District because she claims the school removed her posters promoting a pro-life day of silence. The organization representing her says the "censorship" violated her First Amendment rights.

February 21, 2012|Joanna Small and Joel Girdner | Reporter and Photographer

DIXON, Mo. —

An Ozarks student says her school district violated her constitutional rights and she's suing in federal court.

The Alliance Defense Fund is representing the teen, who wants to remain anonymous right now.

Last week, the ADF filed suit against the Dixon R-1 School District claiming an infringement of First Amendment rights.

"Good, wholesome, down to Earth people." That's how Dixon R-1 superintendent Dawna Burrow describes her small town and its small school district. And most of those good, wholesome, down to Earth people seem not to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

"I don't think I remember seeing posters this year," says high school junior Mariah Shaw.

"I saw a couple by the cafeteria," her friend Miranda Bowling chimes in.

But a select group of students- Grant Paterson among them- know the school district demanded those posters promoting a pro-life day of silence be taken down. "That bothered her. It bothered us because it bothered her," Paterson, a close friend of the student tells us.

Paterson supports the Alliance Defense Fund lawsuit filed against the district on behalf of his friend.

"The case law in this is really clear. The supreme courts down to the local courts have held when a student is in school they don't give up their First Amendment rights," explains ADF attorney Matt Sharp.

The school district hasn't reponded yet and won't on camera. "At this time I have not been served to notify me that the district is in a lawsuit, and therefore I really can't comment on anything dealing with the lawsuit," says Burrow.

But we do know this: students can only promote school-sponsored activities or activities that further the curriculum. The ADF and some students say other students promoting independent events have been allowed to post their materials, though.

"He had a gay day, a gay pride day I guess is what it's called, and he had posters all around the school supporting it," Paterson remembers, referring to another student's event.

The teen suing was even allowed to put up posters for the same pro-life event in 2010. As a result, the day of silence is ironically becoming quite the talk of the town.

"We thought it was wrong; we didn't think it was fair and we didn't like it," Paterson concludes.

Once the district is served the lawsuit, it will have about 20 days to respond.

The ADF says if the district "does the right thing" and allows the student to put her posters back up, that could very well be the end of things.

The ADF won a similar suit on behalf of a Little Rock, Arkansas, student who was forbidden to hand out literature about his church to his classmates.

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