AUSTIN,Texas – In an 8-0 decision, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday decided in favor of the Kountze Cheerleaders in the case of Matthews v. Kountze Independent School District.
Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher, LLP, Liberty Institute, and Beaumont attorney David Starnes represented the students, asking the Texas Supreme Court to protect the rights of all Texas students to free speech and religious liberty.
In 2012, a group of high school cheerleaders from Kountze, TX painted Bible verses on their run-through banners for school football games. The Freedom From Religion Foundation found out about the banners and filed a complaint with Kountze ISD. In response, the school district banned the cheerleaders’ signs.
KISD claims the banners are government speech, which they can censor at will, while the cheerleaders’ attorneys contend that the banners are the cheerleaders’ private speech, which is protected under Texas law.
“This is an 8-0 victory for the free speech and religious liberty rights of all Texas students. We are delighted that the court considered this case so straightforward that it did not even require oral argument. In light of today’s Supreme Court ruling, we hope the Court of Appeals will resolve this case permanently in the cheerleaders’ favor,” said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of Liberty Institute.
James Ho, lead appellate counsel from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP says, “At a time when religious liberty is under assault nationwide, this ruling is a welcome reminder that the Constitution protects people of faith—and a welcome rebuke to government agencies that try to play games with our rights."
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott also defended the cheerleaders.
“Religious liberty, deemed by our nation’s founders as the ‘First Freedom,’ is the foundation upon which our society has been built. I’m pleased the Texas Supreme Court has ensured that the Kountze cheerleaders will be able to continue defending their right to express their faith – the most fundamental of American freedoms," Ken Paxton said.
The case now returns to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth District in Beaumont, Texas.