COLORADO SPRINGS — Although attorneys for a student at Mann Middle School in Colorado Springs are claiming victory in a First Amendment case involving the boy’s right to wear a necklace cross to school, a District 11 spokeswoman says the cross was never an issue.
Spokeswoman Elaine Naleski said the district allows children to publicly display all religious symbols except for Catholic rosaries, which are not allowed because some southern Colorado Springs gangs wear them. It’s common for schools to ban the wearing of gang symbols. The district allows rosaries to be worn under the shirt, Naleski said.
The American Center for Law & Justice, a Washington, D.C., firm that specializes in defending constitutional rights, represented 13-year-old Cainan Gostnell when he became fearful of wearing his cross to school after hearing an intercom announcement Sept. 30 that banned the wearing of religious items, his attorneys say.
The law firm gave District 11 until Tuesday to respond to its demand that Gostnell be allowed to wear the cross above his shirt. If it did not respond, the firm threatened to file a federal lawsuit.
“We are pleased the school district understands and agrees that our client’s religious expression in school is protected by the First Amendment,” said attorney Ed White.
But Naleski said Tuesday that the Sept. 30 intercom announcement was the same message sent Oct. 4 in e-mail format to Mann Middle School parents. The Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs says it’s OK with the D-11 ban on rosaries because they are not supposed to be worn around the neck
