The third-grade student, Lydia Booth, aimed to peacefully share her Christian faith by wearing the “Jesus Lvoes Me” mask. She wore the mask without disruption or incident on October 13, but the principal at her school demanded she remove and replace it. Two days later, Simpson County School District administrators announced a policy prohibiting masks that are “political, religious, sexual or inappropriate symbols, gestures or statements that may be offensive, disruptive or deemed distractive to the school environment.”
“Public schools have a duty to respect the free expression of students that the First Amendment guarantees to them,” ADF Legal Counsel Michael Ross said in a statement. “While school administrators face challenges in helping students navigate school life during a pandemic, those officials simply can’t suspend the First Amendment or arbitrarily pick and choose the messages that students can or can’t express.”
According to the lawsuit, the school has allowed students to wear masks with the logos of local sports teams or even the political slogan “Black Lives Matter.”
“Other students within the school district have freely worn masks with the logos of local sports teams or even the words ‘Black Lives Matter.’ This student deserves an equal opportunity to peacefully express her beliefs,” Ross argued.
Lydia Booth’s mother, Jennifer Booth, repeatedly contacted school officials, noting that the school handbook had no policy limiting her daughter’s religious expression. The mother also cited the Mississippi Student Religious Freedom Act and the First Amendment, which should protect her daughter’s “Jesus Loves Me” mask.
“No public school student should be singled out for peacefully sharing her religious beliefs with fellow students,” ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, said in a statement.
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