US1 min(s) read
Published 23:29 06 Nov 2020 GMT
A Mississippi couple are suing their nine-year-old daughter's school after she was forced to remove her a face mask that read "Jesus Loves Me".
As per the Mirror, Matthew and Jennifer Booth are demanding "nominal damages", claiming that their daughter Lydia was singled out for wearing the mask and left upset as a result.
The couple claims that the school violated Lydia's constitutional rights when the principal asked her to remove the covering, which it deemed in breach of the school's 'no religious face coverings' policy.
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According to her parents, Lydia, a third-grade student, removed the mask when it was requested by an assistant teacher at Simpson Central School in Pinola, Mississippi.
Lydia was then given a plain mask as a replacement to ensure her continued protection in her computer class.
The lawsuit filed on the Booth's behalf by an evangelical organization has been classed as an anti-LGBT+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Mirror reports.
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"Public schools have a duty to respect the free expression of students that the First Amendment guarantees to them," ADF Legal Counsel Michael Ross told WLBT.
Ross added: "Other students within the school district have freely worn masks with the logos of local sports teams or even the words 'Black Lives Matter'. This student deserves an equal opportunity to peacefully express her beliefs."
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In addition, per WBRC, senior ADF Counsel Tyson Langhofer said: "Lydia told her parents she wants to be a missionary and that's why she wants to wear this mask.
"It made her really sad when she was forced to remove this mask because the message means something to her and it's her choice to wear it."
The Booths are claiming that their daughter wore the mask on a number of occasions without incident and that other pupils at her school were allowed or wear masks with sports team logos or "Black Lives Matter".
After the October 13 incident, the school updated its facemask policy to officially ban facemasks emblazoned with religious statements and logos.
The Daily Mail reports that the school is claiming that the rule was included in the school's Covid "restart plan", but this could not be found online.
Wearing face masks is of the utmost importance during the ongoing pandemic, and the CDC has cited it as one of the main ways to halt the spread of Covid-19.
