Not only program restored, but the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia also stated that Vidalia City Schools must uphold the executive director of Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center's freedom of speech while its lawsuit against school officials continues.
Rev. Gady Youmans operates the Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center, a long-standing "release time education program" allowing Vidalia High School students to take religious courses for school credit.
After Youmans criticized a school board tax increase on his personal Facebook page, the school board canceled the program. The partnership between Sweet Onion and the high school was terminated after working together for over a decade.
However, that was not the only factor to the cancelled program.
After the Facebook incident, the superintendent investigated Sweet Onion and found a previous controversy where a parent from a different school did not like the version of the Bible the program used. The superintendent then claimed Youman’s biblical instruction wasn’t presented in “neutral or well-balanced manner.”
Therefore, the school district violated Youman’s right to free speech and his exercise of religion, which are protected by the First Amendment.
Mercer Martin, an attorney at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), spoke to AFN about the case. ADF is the law firm representing Youmans and Sweet Onion.
"The government is never allowed to retaliate and punish citizens just because of the disagreement they have with the speech at issue," Martin states.
ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit in May, and the case is known as Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center v. Vidalia City Schools. They are happy to see that Youman’s constitutional freedoms restored and the released-time program reinstated.
While the issue is still playing out in a Georgia federal court, Martin said the decision and case is setting important precedent nationwide.
"Just because it disagrees with us, government can't take away our rights," Martin says.
