Las Vegas school district agrees to protect free speech rights of pro-life students after lawsuit
A Las Vegas school district reached a settlement agreement with a Students for Life chapter who claimed they were discriminated against
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Las Vegas school district has agreed to protect pro-life students' views after current and former students sued their high school, the district and school administrators, alleging discrimination against their campus club.
The group of students from the Students for Life chapter at East Career and Technical Academy (ECTA) filed their lawsuit in 2022 in response to "ongoing bias" against the club for its beliefs, the Thomas More Society said.
The legal group representing the students announced they recently reached a settlement agreement with the Clark County School District (CCSD) to make changes to the school's student handbook and distribute a memorandum to district administration reminding them to protect students' First Amendment rights.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The agreement will ensure pro-life students' views are protected in the district's more than 300 schools, the Thomas More Society touted.
Pro-life students settled with a Las Vegas school district, who agreed to protect their First Amendment rights. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
"This public, taxpayer funded, school district and high school were actively violating the Equal Access Act, the Nevada Constitution, and the United States Constitution, apparently due to ongoing bias against the club’s pro-life beliefs and actions," Joan Mannix, Executive Vice President and counsel for the Thomas More Society, said in a statement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mannix was "pleased" with the settlement, but said it was "regrettable" that school officials needed this reminder, and they were violating their own district policies on discrimination regarding student clubs.
Fox News Digital previously reported the Students for Life group had accused ECTA of denying their fliers with images in the school newspaper, despite other groups being allowed to include pictures in their fliers. The suit also claimed the ECTA assistant principal had "refused" to allow students to post fliers referring to an adoption agency and pregnancy resource clinic during the 2019-2020 school year.
The school also reportedly rejected a club meeting announcement which depicted pictures of students declaring, "I reject abortion," as "too controversial," while allowing faculty to display pro-abortion posters in classrooms.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PRO-LIFE STATES CONSIDER ABORTION EXCEPTIONS IN CASES OF FATAL FETAL ANOMALIES
Pro-life activists and pro-choice activist protest during the 2018 March for Life January 19, 2018, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The school district had previously found itself in legal trouble with another student in 2015 after initially refusing to approve her application to start a pro-life club on campus at a different high school, the lawsuit claimed.
Kristan Hawkins, President of Students for Life of America, which assisted the local chapter in its fight, vowed to keep holding schools accountable for trying to silence pro-life students.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"As hostile attacks on pro-life free speech steadily grow, Students for Life of America will not allow school administrations to overlook or instigate First Amendment violations against the Pro-Life Generation," she said in a statement. "Free speech includes pro-life speech, whether you like it or not. Pro-life students will always have a voice for the voiceless, and Students for Life of America will ensure their freedom to do so is respected."
Clark County School District did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Fox News' Cortney O'Brien contributed to this report.
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