School sued over rosary beads ban

[DJPoka]

pa.press.net, Updated: 02/06/2010 06:06

School sued over rosary beads ban


A federal judge has ordered a school in Albany, New York to reinstate a 13-year-old boy who was suspended for wearing rosary beads, pending a hearing into whether the suspension violated his civil rights.

Oneida Middle School officials contend Raymond Hosier violated a policy banning gang-related clothing, as rosary beads are sometimes worn as gang symbols. But the teenager, who initially was suspended two weeks ago, says he wears the purple rosary in memory of his younger brother, who died while clutching it after a bicycle accident.

The American Centre for Law and Justice, an offshoot of evangelist Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, filed a lawsuit yesterday in US District Court contending the suspension violated Hosier's rights to free speech and religious expression.