An acclaimed American museum has agreed to a settlement with a Christian school group that was evicted from the institution because they were wearing pro-life beanies and buttons.
The National Air and Space Museum will pay A$75,000 in attorney’s fees, expenses, costs and interest in connection with a lawsuit filed by 12 plaintiffs who were asked to leave the facility on the day of the national March for Life rally in Washington, D.C. in January last year.
The plaintiffs are students from Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School in Greenville, South Carolina, and their parents. They were all wearing beanies featuring the words Rosary PRO-LIFE as they entered the museum.
The American Center for Law and Justice which represented the plaintiffs, reported in February last year that “the museum staff mocked the students, called them expletives, and commented that the museum was a ‘neutral zone’ where they could not express such statements.”
Its lawyers claimed that “the employee who ultimately forced the students to leave the museum was rubbing his hands together in glee as they exited the building.”
They filed a federal lawsuit accusing the museum and its staff of violating the rights of the Christian visitors under the First and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
In a statement to The Christian Post in February last year, a museum spokesperson admitted that the museum’s actions constituted an act of wrongdoing and insisted that “asking visitors to remove hats and clothing is not in keeping with our policy or protocols.”
The world famous Smithsonian Institution, which oversees the National Air and Space Museum and other museums in Washington, entered into a consent decree agreeing to “reiterate to all security officers stationed at all Smithsonian museums open to the public and the National Zoological Park, that Smithsonian policy does not prohibit visitors from wearing hats or other types of clothing with messages, including religious and political speech.”
Following the issuing of the consent decree last March, the American Center for Law and Justice signaled its intention to “enter a period of mediation with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to see if we can get to the bottom of why our clients were targeted.” The Christian Post reports that last week’s settlement suggests that the law firm was satisfied with the museum’s investigative efforts.
In addition to the monetary settlement, the group will have the opportunity to tour the museum privately with museum officials and receive a video apology from them.
In December, the National Archives and Records Administration settled a similar lawsuit after National Archives visitors were told they could not wear pro-life apparel. The museum hosts original copies of the US Constitution which clearly sets out the right to free speech and freedom of religion in the United States.
