First Amendment
ACLU DEFENDS STUDENT REFUSING TO SAY PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
6.26.08
Travis Busby, a seventh-grader at Nimitz Middle School in Tulsa, refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance on June 8, 2005. He also opted not to participate in reciting the Pledge. As a result, the school’s assistant principal imposed a two-day suspension as punishment.
Busby’s mother contacted the ACLU of Oklahoma and reported the incident to Staff Attorney Tina Izadi. After reviewing the mother’s report, Izadi initiated dialogue with Tulsa Union Public Schools, and was referred to the district’s attorney. During negotiations with the school’s lawyer, she explained the ACLU’s position that Busby’s punishment was a violation of his First Amendment rights. The district agreed not to penalize Busby for the work he had missed while out of school.
ACLU SUPPORTS MUSLIM COUPLE’S RIGHT TO WEAR RELIGIOUS ATTIRE
6.26.08
Malik and Minimah Muhammad
The ACLU of Oklahoma was contacted this spring by Malik and Minimah Muhammad, a Muslim couple involved in a case being handled in Oklahoma County District Court. In accordance with sincerely held religious beliefs. Mr. Muhammad wears a skull cap known as a Kufi. Similarly, Mrs. Muhammed wears a head scarf known as a Hijab. During a routine appearance in court, an Oklahoma County Judge ordered Mr. and Mrs. Muhammed to remove their religious attire.
ACLU of Oklahoma Staff Attorney Tina Izadi met with the Muhammads and communicated with their attorney in the case before the District Court. She prepared a motion regarding their religious liberty interests that would be ready to file if another judge ordered them to remove their religious garb. She attended courtroom proceedings with them on May 18 and June 2. Both these appearances occurred without incident.
Tina Izadi
Izadi continued her vigilance on behalf of these clients until their matter in the District Court was settled. The Muhammads case concluded without further infringement on their religious liberty. Izadi then sent the District Presiding Judge a letter to request that deference be accorded to religious attire by the Oklahoma County District Court.
More >TEN COMMANDMENTS APPEAL ARGUED BEFORE TENTH CIRCUIT
6.26.08
The appeal of a 2006 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma to retain a Ten Commandments monument on the Haskell County Courthouse lawn was argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver Colorado on October 4, 2007. Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the National ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, presented the oral argument to the Tenth Circuit. He was advised by Micheal Salem, an ACLU of Oklahoma cooperating attorney who handled the case at the District Court trial with former ACLU of Oklahoma Staff Attorney Tina Izadi.
The ACLU of Oklahoma originally filed the case on behalf of plaintiff James W. Green, who objected to the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Haskell County Courthouse in Stigler, Oklahoma. Stigler resident Sharon Nichols acted as the representative on behalf of the ACLU of Oklahoma membership. The judge at the District Court dismissed the controversy as a “kerfuffle” and ruled that the monument was not erected by the County with a religious purpose. The case is Green v. Board of Commissioners of the County of Haskell.
