The Broward County school board is scheduled to rule on Tuesday what signs are permissible on school campuses following challenges from a contentious advocate who requested to hang 鈥楽atan Loves the First Amendment鈥� banners on school grounds.
Timothy 鈥淐haz鈥� Stevens filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the school district after local schools denied his request to hang the provocative banners, but allowed signs from Christian churches.
鈥淭hey gotta let me in or they gotta remove everybody,鈥� Stevens, who in the lawsuit calls himself as the leader of the 'Church of Satanology,' told SA国际传谋.
Until recently, school board policy didn鈥檛 prohibit religious organizations from displaying signage in schools, but it stated they must represent community standards, uphold the board鈥檚 philosophy, and 鈥渂e non-political or sectarian in nature.鈥�
Stevens sued the district in September, arguing it engaged in viewpoint discrimination by letting Christian church banners hang but not his 鈥淪atan Loves the First Amendment鈥� sign. The lawsuit climbed to federal court a month later.
District administrators ordered religious signs to come down while they reviewed the rules.
Kevin Goldberg, a First Amendment specialist from the nonpartisan , said the law is on Stevens鈥� side.
鈥淭he First Amendment has always meant that all viewpoints 鈥� religious, political 鈥� any viewpoints of any kind have to be treated equally,鈥� Goldberg said.
The proposed rule changes, if approved by Broward County Public Schools, would prohibit religious organizations from hanging advertisements in schools, but non-religious businesses and organizations would still be welcomed.
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Churches argue their constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech would be violated. If businesses are allowed to hang signage to promote themselves, then they also should be accepted. It would be discriminatory to exclude them from engaging in public community forums, they argue.
鈥淚 don't blame the churches," Stevens said. He supports their right to advertise if that's what the rules allow, but 鈥渋t's all or nothing. So if they want in, I should get in.鈥�
Free exercise of religion
Goldberg explained this case is a reaction to the recent wave of conservative Christians fervently advocating for free exercise of religion and upping expressions of faith in public, like the struck-down Louisiana law that would鈥檝e required the
鈥淚f free exercise means that we're going to have a more active role for religion in the public sphere,鈥� Goldberg said, 鈥渢hen that must mean all religions.鈥�
And while Stevens doesn鈥檛 praise Satan 鈥� he calls himself an atheist 鈥� he says the government doesn鈥檛 have the authority to determine which religions are more sincere than others.
Last year he challenged the Bible鈥檚 place in Broward school libraries, claiming it 鈥渋s too sensitive or controversial鈥� for public school students. He says he has spent thirty years defending the First Amendment. 鈥淭his is invaluable to me.鈥�
He already took on the Palm Beach County School District when, in 2017, he submitted the same request to hang Satan-related banners on school grounds. As a result, the district adopted a policy more explicitly prohibiting religious organizations from advertising, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
鈥淓xamples of inappropriate business partner fence screen recognitions include, but are not limited to: churches; organizations which as its primary function furthers, promotes or seeks to establish a religious tenet or position about religion or spirituality, including agnosticism, atheism, or satanism,鈥� the Palm Beach County policy reads.
Broward鈥檚 proposed rules will likely be similar, Broward鈥檚 chief communications and legislative affairs officer John Sullivan told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The School Board is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 8:45 a.m. to vote on the proposed policy change.
You can listen to a conversation on this story in the most recent episode of the South Florida Roundup here or or wherever you get your podcasts by searching: The South Florida Roundup.
