Federal Court Ruling in Favor of Muslim Va. High School Students

 

BREAKING: CAIR Welcomes Federal Court Ruling in Favor of Muslim Va. High School Students Permitting Lawsuit Against School District to Move Forward

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a federal judge’s decision in favor of a group Muslim and Arab high school students in Northern Virginia.

The students and their parents brought the suit against Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), for violations of their Constitutional rights to Free Expression, Equal Protection, and Due Process, as well as their right to be free from discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“FCPS bent the knee to racists and Islamophobes when it should have protected its students from their outrage” said Ahmad Kaki, CAIR LDF staff attorney. “We welcome the Court’s decision allowing our clients’ constitutional claims to proceed and look forward to holding FCPS and its administrators accountable.”

“Any parent would agree that children should not be punished at school to appease chronically online social media trolls,” said John M. Fossum, CAIR LDF staff attorney. “We will continue to demand that this school and school district make amends to our clients’ families.”

“FCPS targeted these students for their identities and Palestine-related expression and was so bold about its discrimination that it put it in writing,” said Catherine Keck, CAIR LDF staff attorney. “This ruling allows our clients to continue seeking accountability for discriminatory discipline imposed without a fair opportunity to be heard.”

BACKGROUNDER:

CAIR Legal Defense Fund filed suit after TJHSST and FCPS suspended a group of Muslim and Arab students, all members of the school’s Muslim Students Association, for participating in an innocent viral video trend to promote their school club. Other student groups at FCPS and TJHSST created similar and even identical videos but were not punished. The lawsuit alleges that TJHSST and FCPS disciplined the students in response to Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian pressure from groups outside the school.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that the students properly alleged they were targeted because of their Palestine- and Arab-related expression and their Arab and Muslim identities, in violation of the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses, and Title VI.

CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.|

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