College of William & Mary Law School William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository Student Newspaper (Amicus, Advocate...) Archives and Law School History 2000 The Amicus Curiae (Vol. 10, Issue 6) Repository Citation "The Amicus Curiae (Vol. 10, Issue 6)" (2000). Student Newspaper (Amicus, Advocate...). 129. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/newspapers/129 Copyright c 2000 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/newspapers • • The mlCUS ur1ae VOLUMEX,ISSUEF Tuesday, February 29,2000 WILLIAM & MARY SCHOOL OF LAW Students And Panelists Square Off To Debate Religion In Schools by Eric Nakano based on Santa Fe School District v. Doe, Sandy Mastro made the winning argu­ the Texas football prayer case scheduled ment in the Institute ofBill ofRights Law to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this Student Division's recent 1L moot court spring. The hypothetical case began in competition. June of 1999, when Peter Ferguson, a stu­ The fmal round of the moot court com­ dent at John Marshall High School. at­ petition initiated the IBRLSD symposium tended the senior awards rally. Atthe rally, "Religion in Our Schools: A Debate on the senior class president, Jennifer Freedom," on Monday, February 21, and Wallace, presented a short congratulatory was judged by the symposium panelists. speech. She then concluded her speech The panelists in this year's symposium v.rith a briefprayer. Although school rallies were: Steve Aden, ChiefLitigation Coun­ are not mandatory, they are attended by sel for the Rutherford Institute; Steven most of the students, and school buses do Fitschen, President and Executive Direc­ not leave until the rally is over. tor ofthe National Legal Foundation; Ellen Follov.ring the rally, Peter Ferguson Johnson, President of American Atheists; and his parents complained to the school and Elliot Mincberg, Vice-President and and were directed to attend the school Legal and Education Policy Director for board meeting. Although several people People for the American Way. agreed 'vith the Ferguson's complaint, the Symposium panelists judged the Moot Court Competition. Acting as moderator, and as Chief Jus­ majority favored the prayer, and the tice during the moot court competition, F ergusons were met \vith sharp criticism in media attention and public debate. In­ club was elected senior class president was Marshall Wythe's own eal Devins, the local newspapers. stead the school board replaced the policy after running on a ampaitn1 platforn1 of GoodrichProfessorofLawandLecturerin During the sun1Iller, the school board \Vith an unwritten policy of"non-censor­ prayer.at rallies. Since his election, be has Government. enacted a policy permitting nonsectarian, ship" for student speeches. included a prayer every time he has spoken The hypothetical case, Ferguson v. nonproselytizing prayers at student ral­ When school reopened Robert Hol­ Wythe City School District, was loosely lies, but abandoned the policy following land, president of the Students for Christ See Religious Freedom on 2 Presidential Candidate Alan Keyes Brings His C~mpaign Message To William and Mary by Pamela S. Jenkins in a televised debate for stating that if his had prior bad experiences with bla ks received his U. appointment during the daughter informed him that she wanted to should be able to treat them differently on Reagan administration Keyes also made a Republican presidential candidate Alan have an abortion he would s\t down and the basis of race. bid for the White House in 1996 but was Keyes made a campaign stop on the Wil­ discuss it v.rith her and respect her stand. Keyes also opposes affirn1ative action. never considered a serious contender. He liamandMarycampusonFriday. February The heated response from Keyes was In the past, Ke es has served as an waged a vigorous grassroots ampaign in 25. that if McCain's daughter had come to hin1 Assistant Secretary of State and made two Iowa this ear and finished a surprising The former U.N. Ambassador appeared saying she was going to kill grandma there unsuccessful bids for a Senate seat from third in the voting, his strongest showing at the Conunonwealth Auditorium in the would have been no "family conference." Maryland to date. University Center to share his views on He stated that McCain would have done A very conservative Republican who government and his plan for the presi­ everything he could to stop her and that an dency as voters prepared to head to the unborn child deserYes the same protec­ In this Issue polls for the February 29 ~epublican pri­ tion as grandma. mary. Keyes contends that it is wrong to end Ohh dear, did you make it into Planning to visit DC anytime Keyes advocates more local control of the life of an unborn child under any cir­ our Barrister's photos? .......... p4 soon?.Sarah has your whole trip school systems and programs such as the cumstance other than unintentionally dur­ planned..................................... p9 voucher system that enable parents to ing medical procedures to save the mother's send their children to any school they life. Jeff gives his views on choose, public or private. His economic plans include eliminat­ NASCAR and the Marty See what Sari thinks about One of the keystones of his campaign ing personal income tax and replacing it McSorle) 's suspension .......... p5 during class ... ;.......... .............. pi 0 is morality. He feels that religion should be ~ with a national sales tax while reducing the allowed in public schools but that sex amount of money spent by the federal Tim is back to review some new Spotlight on PAD .................. pll government. education should not. He also opposes music....................................... p7 gay rights on the basis that homosexual Surprisingly, Keyes, a black man v.'ith behavior is immoral. a Ph.D. from Harvard, finds nothing wrong He is staunchly opposed to abortion, with racial profiling. His position is that having criticized opponent John McCain cab drivers and police officers who have 2 ================== ===== ========== =========Tuesday, February 29,2000 THE AMicus Panelists Discuss Religious Freedo01 In Schools Religious Freedom from I at a rally. Ferguson is now seeking injunctive relief After the trophies were presented, the panel discus­ Way agreed on a lot of points. Most notably, both Aden against the school policy that permits this. sion began with all ofthe speakers providing a ten-minute and Mincberg agreed that Virginia's moment of silence Sandy Mastro represented Ferguson, and was as­ introduction ofthemselves and their organizations before bill was problematic, albeit for different reasons. sisted in preparation by her alternate, Kari Lou Frank. covering a range of topics from the moment ofsilence bill In Mincberg's words, his concern is "there wouldn't Melissa Newton represented the Wythe City School in Virginia, the posting ofthe Ten Commandments, school be enough silence in the moment ofsilence. " Aden, on the District; and was assisted in preparation by her alternate, prayer, the teaching of Creationism, and other religious other hand, is concerned that the bill as it is currently Sam Franck. issues currently in debate around the country. written will lead to a court challenge that might further Presenting their arguments before a packed court­ Speaker Ellen Johnson was the only non-attorney restrict religious freedom in schools. Both also mentioned room, Sandy Mastro and Melissa Newton withstood a and, unlike the more legal comp1entary of the other pan­ the need for equal access in schools for all religions. firestorm of questions from the panelists, each carefully elists, her comments focused more on the practicality of Committing a slight faux pas, Steve Aden included athe­ conceding untenable points and bolstering stronger ar­ having religion in schools. What was really at issue in her ists as a group that could use a moment of silence for their guments in a seemingly endless stream of hypotheticals opinion was not whether a school prayer was secular or own prayers, which provided a moment of comic relief. and propositions. Neither competitor was able to com­ not, nor even whether the speaker was a state actor. As Meanwhile, Steve Fitschen stressed the need to bring a plete even the first page of her prepared speech in the an atheist, she was concerned with freedom from religion sense of morality to students. twelve minutes allotted. rather than the neutrality of the prayer. She also com­ Following the discussion, questions from the audi­ Following the argument, the panelists deliberated at mented that the Establishment Clause of the First Amend­ ence focused on school vouchers and specific issues that the bench, deciding the case 3-2 in favor of the student, ment "lacks teeth." There is no punishment for violating affect atheist students. An interesting question dealt with Ferguson, and then recessed during a ten-minute break to the Establishment Clause, and so for groups like hers, Jamestown and whether or not educators should teach privately determine the winner ofthe competition. When fighting such abuse of the Establishment Clause is like about the religious foundations of Virginia. All of the the break was over, the panel announced that Mastro was putting out small fires; once one is extinguished, another speakers agreed that religious history should not be the winner in what several panelists described as a close one pops up. ignored but that it should be supplemented by the evo­ call. As the trophies were handed out, Mastro's family in Surprisingly, Ste\le Aden from the Rutherford Insti­ lution ofAmerica 's decision for separation of church and the audience seemed almost as excited as she. tute and Elliot Mincberg from People for the American state. 2000-2001 National Trial Tea01 -Selected by Pamela S. Jenkins was accused oftrying to kill the professor who headed the death.