School Calls Police on Young Boy for Sharing Bible Verse
A California public elementary school called the Los Angeles deputy sheriff to reprimand a 7-year-old student for handing out Bible verses to his classmates.
It was a normal routine for the Zavala family. Christina Zavala would tuck encouraging notes and Bible verses in packed lunches for her son, called "C," who attended Desert Rose Elementary School.
According to the Liberty Counsel, "C" shared his notes with the other first graders. They soon requested notes of their own.
Mrs. Zavala sent additional Bible verses for her son's friends and included short stories.
After one student told the teacher "this is the most beautiful story I've ever seen," the teacher quickly intervened, according to the Santa Monica Observer.
The teacher reprimanded "C" for passing out the notes and then called his parents to warn them that their actions violated separation off church and state.
The teacher also told the Zavalas that notes were banned from lunch distribution.
They were told that the only location where "C" could pass out the notes was by the school gate after hours.
The family complied with the request but they were further harassed after 15 students met the family at the gate to receive the Bible verses, Liberty Counsel said.
Principal Melanie Pagliaro demanded that "C" only hand out the notes on a public sidewalk, far from the exit, off school property.
The family honored the request. However later that day, a Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff knocked at the Zavala's home demanding that the note sharing stop all together.
He warned that "someone might be offended."
The Zavala family soon contacted the Liberty Counsel to help protect their child's constitutional freedom.
"This is a clear, gross violation of the rights of a child," Liberty Counsel's Horatio "Harry" Mihet said. "The school district enlisted a police officer to intimidate 'C' and his family makes this case even more outrageous."
"I would expect something like this to happen in Communist Romania, where I went to elementary school, but cops don't bully 7-year-olds who want to talk about Jesus in the land of the free," he added.
