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Assignment (Artifact) 4: Court Case Analysis: Religion in School

Amber Parker

College of Southern Nevada

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Assignment (Artifact) 4: Court Case Analysis: Religion in School

Scenario Summary

Ms. Karen White is an elementary teacher who recently became affiliated with Jehovah’s

Witnesses. As a result, White informed her students and their parents that she will no longer lead

or participate in religious activities such as decorating for the holidays, saying the pledge of

allegiance, or plan gift exchanges during the Christmas season. Not only that, but Ms. White also

stated that she is no longer going to sing “Happy Birthday” in her classroom. Many of her

students and their parents protested against her decisions to the point where the school principal,

Bill Ward, recommended that she be dismissed as a teacher because she could not effectively

meet the needs of students. Two of the following four court cases will be used as evidence to

support Principal Ward’s decision of dismissal, while the remaining two cases will be used as

supporting evidence to prevent Ms. White from being dismissed.

Two Court Cases – Karen White Should be Dismissed.

Briefly reviewing Karen White’s case, the court might be quick to rule that Karen

White’s dismissal was appropriate. To support their ruling, the court may use two court cases,

Palmer v. Board of Education of City of Chicago (1979) and Skoros v. City of New York (2004),

as supporting evidence in favor of White’s dismissal. In the Palmer v. Board of Education

(1979) case, involves Joethelia Palmer, a kindergarten teacher, who is recommended for

dismissal based on her refusal to lead her students on the pledge of allegiance, plan and

participate in holiday activities, and letting her students sing national patriotic songs. Palmer

explained to Florence Paskind, the school principle, that she would not teach anything having to

do with love for the country because of her beliefs from her affiliation with Jehovah’s Witnesses.

In order to accommodate Palmer, Paskind assigned a “team teacher,” student teachers, and parent
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volunteers to Palmer’s classroom to help instruct her students during patriotic activities. Despite

her efforts, Paskind’s plan was not enough to satisfy Palmer. As a result, Palmer was

recommended for dismissal and took her case to court. The court ruled that since Palmer failed to

follow the appointed curriculum her dismissal was not in violation of her rights. The court

overseeing White’s case could use Palmer’s case to argue that since White was not teaching the

necessary curriculum to her students, she was not wrongfully dismissed from teaching.

Another case the court could use to support the dismissal of Karen White is Skoros v.

City of New York (2004). In this case, Roman Catholic Andrea Skoros, mother of Christos and

Nicholas Tine, sent a letter to Christos’ teacher asking what religious symbols the children would

be coloring for Christmas. Christos’ teacher, Mrs. Dahan, informed Skoros that the students

would be coloring a variety of Christmas symbols. When Skoros asked Mrs. Dahan if she could

display creche for her children, she replied that they would have a party to celebrate the

Christmas holiday, as the holiday Displays Memorandum does not allow public displays of the

creche. In hopes of getting her way and getting approval to celebrate creche in the classroom,

Skoros took her case to court claiming that the DOE’s policy regarding holiday displays in and

on school grounds violates the Establishment Clause. Skoros claimed that this violation

prevented her from exercising her right to freely exercise religion and religiously teach her

children. The court ruled that the policy is in accordance with both the establishment and free

exercise clauses under the first amendment, and as such, does not violate Skoros right to control

her children’s religious instruction.

The court handling Karen White’s case could use Skoros’ case to argue that she does not

have the right to control what her students learn and what they do not learn religious or not. As a

general rule, teachers have the responsibility to teach their students about the different aspects of
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their community, society, and the world around them. Teachers don’t have the right to decide

what they want to teach their students because of their personal religious beliefs. Based on the

evidence, Karen’s court could use this case to uphold principal Ward’s recommendation for

dismissal.

Two Court Cases – Karen White Should Not be Dismissed.

While most courts would look at Karen’s case and decided that her dismissal was

appropriate, there are some courts that might argue the recommendation for her dismissal was

wrong and violated her first amendment right to freedom of religion. To support their case, the

court could use West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) and Sherbert v. Verner

(1963) as cases to defend Karen White and prevent her from being dismissed. The court case

West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) has to do with a public school that forces

students and teachers to salute the flag at every school activity. One day, students from a family

involved with Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to salute the flag as it went against their religious

beliefs. As a result, the students were sent home for not complying with school policy. Not only

were the students sent home, but the school also threatened to send them to reform schools that

were intended for children who are criminally active, and the parents were prosecuted for

causing juvenile delinquency. Just like White, the students and parents are part of Jehovah’s

Witnesses and claimed that their first amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of

religion were violated. The court could use this case to argue that Ms. White cannot be forced to

teach things she does not believe in and that she absolutely has the right to protect her first

amendment, as well as her fourteenth amendment. The court could argue that White’s rights must

be both protected and respected and rule that she not be dismissed.
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Another court case that could be used in favor of Karen White, is Sherbert v. Verner

(1963). In this case, the court examines an issue where Adeil Sherbert, a member of the Seventh-

day Adventist Church, was fired after her refusal to work on Saturday, which was considered the

sabbath day in her religion. It was ruled by the Employment Security Commission that she would

not be allowed to receive unemployment benefits because her refusal to work on Saturday

classified as a decision to unwillingly accept available work without a good reason. In South

Carolina, the law states that employers can not mandate that their employees work on Sunday.

The law does not however, state anything about employers not being allowed to require their

staff on Saturday. The court ruled in Sherbert’s favor stating that Sherbert’s employers were

violating her first amendment right to freedom of religion by firing her for not working on

Saturday, her sabbath day.

The court in charge of Karen White’s case could use Sherbert’s case to defend her first

amendment right to freedom of religion. The court could do this by arguing that White should be

able to worship her religion and exercise her faith in whatever way she sees fit, even if that

means not teaching her students about patriotism. Lastly, the court could use the Sherbert case as

key evidence to prove that Karen White’s rights were violate and that she was wrongfully

dismissed.

Probable Court Ruling, Conclusion, and Personal Opinion.

After looking at all four court cases and their results, I think that the courts would most

likely decide to dismiss Karen White. Both West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)

and Sherbert v. Verner had good points and reasons as to why Karen White should not be

dismissed, I think that the court cases in agreement with White’s dismissal (Palmer v. Board of
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Education of the City of Chicago 1979 and Skoros v. City of New York 2004) had more

compelling arguments.

I think the court would most likely decide to dismiss Karen White and I think that most

of the evidence for their decision would be based on Joethelia Palmer’s case. Court case Palmer

v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago (1979) was the most similar case to Karen’s. Both

Palmer and Karen are part of Jehovah’s Witnesses and refuse to teach patriotic activities,

celebrate and decorate for national holidays like Christmas, and lead their students in the pledge

of allegiance. If I had to guess, I would say that Karen White’s hypothetical case is in reality,

Palmer’s case. I think that they are one in the same because of how many similarities there are

between the two cases.

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References

Palmer v. Board of Education of City of Chicago, 466 US 600 (1979)

Sherbert v. Verner, 374 US 398 (1963)

Skoros v. City of New York, (2004)

West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 US 624 (1943)