...In 1985, Bridget Mergens, as well as a group of several other students in Omaha, Nebraska requested to form a Christian bible study group in which they intended to hold meetings after school hours, on school grounds. To their surprise, the principal denied their request. He claimed that it was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In 1990, Bridget Mergens challenged her school’s decision to deny her request to form a religion based group on school grounds, and with the help of her lawyer, took them to court. There were mixed emotions about the Westside Vs. Mergens case, some siding with Mergens, while others chose the opposing opinion that the religious beliefs that are practiced within the group will directly affect the image of the school itself. Justice Thurgood Marshall writes that “The introduction of religious speech into the public schools reveals the tension between the Free Speech and Establishment Clauses, because the failure of a school to stand apart from religious speech can convey a message that the school endorses, rather than merely tolerates, that speech.”...
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