>>It wasn't an internet story, it was from the Dallas (Morning ?) News paper, about 4 or 5 years ago. There may be references to it, and similar stories on the web, but I haven't searched for them. Her parents took them to court and won the first case, lost the appeal, but won the Supreme Court, if I remember correctly, but how many can or will do that? A similar series of court cases envolved praying around the flag pole, having Bible study in class rooms after hours (even though other groups, some religious in nature were allowed to, Christian groups were singled out as 'prohibited'), and the list goes on. Each 'free exercise' of religion (guaranteed by the 1st Amendment) wasn't allowed unless someone had the money and time to fight the facists, and win in court. How many prohibitions of rights granted in the 1st amendment do we not hear of? I suspect they are like cockroaches, if you see one in the daylight that probably means there are dozens you can't see.
>
>Jerry - I was curious about this schoolbus story, so I went looking for it. After a lot of searching, I've found two schoolbus/religion related incidents, neither of which exactly matches the above. Here's the one I think you're referring to:
>
>
> Audrey Pearson: Pearson's mother contacted the Rutherford
>Institute, a conservative legal group, after her daughter was told to
>stop reading a Bible on a public school bus in Prince William County,
>Va., in 1989. The principal had not understood that students are
>permitted to bring religious material to school for their personal use
>and her decision was quickly reversed once contacted by the
>Institute. The matter never went to court, and the incident is now
>eight years old.
>
>The other case addresses the issue of organized prayer on the school bus:
>Bible-Reading Bus Driver Reassigned
>
>.c The Associated Press
>
>MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- School officials reassigned a bus driver who told a boy to take part in Bible readings on the way to school or find another way to get there.
>
>The driver, Cassandra Agee, would have a student read the Bible and have other students interpret them.
>
>Joseph Brown, a 15-year-old freshman at Robert E. Lee High School, said Friday that when he questioned Ms. Agee about the readings, she told him he could find another way to school if he didn't like them.
>
>"I told her, `You can't do this,"' Brown said. "She said she hoped the Lord would forgive me."
>
>Brown's mother, Ruth Whittington, complained to school officials, and Ms. Agee was reassigned last week to another bus route.
>
>"People tend to think about school buildings when prayer is concerned and not to buses," Board of Education spokeswoman Angela Mann said.
>
>Ms. Agee could not immediately be reached for comment through school transportation officials. Officials said the system's bus drivers were counseled about the complaint, but refused to explain exactly what they were told.
>
>AP-NY-10-17-98 1626EDT
>
>Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
>
>Tamar


Those are interesting, but the one I recall was concerning a 12 year old Black girl in Dallas, TX. It was after she was suspended that her folks contacted lawyers (I don't remember if the Rutherford Insititute was involved or not). The archives of the RI, and other legal groups, are full of cases that range from getting "decisions" and "policies" reversed by a simple letter, to cases argued before the Supreme Court. There is no way of knowing how many folks were badgered into giving up their First Amendment rights because they couldn't afford to fight or were not aware of their legal options, but you can imagine the ratio is similar to cockroaches: dozens of unpublicized situations for every one that appears in the media or in the courts. Another area is the right of peacable assembly vs city boards zoning residential areas so people can't hold prayer meetings, bible studies or worship services in their own homes. Yet, the folks next door can create just as much traffic and more noise with National Football League tribal meetings, and that's ok?
JLK