Kountze Cheerleaders Win Again at Texas Supreme Court

Last Friday in a victory for the religious liberty of students, the Texas Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Kountze ISD (TX) of an earlier decision protecting the right of cheerleaders to have Bible verses on run-through football banners.

The Texas Supreme Court originally ruled in favor of the Kountze Cheerleaders in an 8-0 decision in 2016. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz had also filed briefs in support of the cheerleaders at the Texas Supreme Court.

Our friends at First Liberty, who defended the cheerleaders, released the following statement:

“After more than five years of litigation, our clients are relieved that the Texas Supreme Court has brought an end to the school district’s scorched earth litigation tactics. As the football season kicks off across Texas, it’s good to be reminded that these cheerleaders have a right to have religious speech on their run through banners—banners on which the cheerleaders painted messages they chose, with paint they paid for, on paper they purchased. School districts everywhere should learn an important lesson from this failed litigation by the Kountze Independent School District: stop harassing cheerleaders and accept that they are free to have religious speech on their run through banners.”

Read more about the history of the case here.