Local organizations

*Case Study: Religion or Free Speech

The local community is very involved with Jackson High School, which serves as a community center with many community based activities taking place at the high school. Local organizations are often functioning in and around the daily routine of the high school schedule. The city of Jackson is multicultural and diverse. Some of the clubs at Jackson High School include: Hispanic Club; Chess Club; Gay, Lesbian, Transgender Alliance; Environmental Education Club; Soccer Club; Dance Club; International Student Alliance; and so forth. All student groups and clubs have been allowed to promote their meetings and events at school through use of appointed club activity bulletin boards, announcements, flyers/brochures, and school newspaper ads. Some clubs do have displays in some school locations (hallways, lobbies, hall entrances, library, administrative and guidance offices) at times. Recently, the Christian and Bible Club created a display with Christian content and materials in a display location and the school administration received a few complaints from students and parents. The principal asked the Christian and Bible Club advisors to remove the display. Later that same day, the school administration removed the display altogether to not give the community the impression of endorsing Christianity

*How to use case study precedent

In the American Legal system, courts can use a principle established in previous cases that have been heard and decided upon. This is known as precedent. Precedent is used to help decide subsequent court cases that have similar facts. Precedent based decisions help the court to establish case decisions that are based on consistent rules and principles to produce predictable case outcomes. Judges use stare decisis to stand upon precedent determined by previous court decisions. A basic rule for using precedent to help determine meaning or to interpret case law is to make sure the case being interpreted is one where precedent was set by a superior court decision or by the same type of court in a recent ruling.

Next comprehend the meaning of both. Use the decisions of similar cases to help you justify if free speech and equal access rights of the Christian and Bible club are or are not being violated.