Football Player Asks Arkansas State University To Stand With The Team, Constitution

JONESBORO, Ark., Sept. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Liberty Institute on behalf of its client—an Arkansas State University football player who wishes to remain anonymous because he fears retaliation by the university—sent a demand letter to university officials for violating his team's free speech rights for censoring a student memorial helmet sticker. Recently, university officials defaced the stickers by physically trimming them into a straight line—to remove the vertical line that once formed a cross—in an effort to erase any and all religious references from public sight.

"We are about to find out if Arkansas State University will follow the law or simply used the excuse of the FFRF letter to purposefully engage in unconstitutional religious viewpoint discrimination," said Hiram Sasser, Liberty Institute Litigation Director.  "The players put themselves through a physical, emotional, and mental grind throughout the year to stand up and represent everything that is good about Arkansas State University, its fans, its alumni and the surrounding community. Now we will find out if Arkansas State University will stand up for them and the Constitution of the United States." 

The letter requests that ASU officials cease censoring and publicly acknowledge, in writing, the right of its students to engage in private speech by Sept. 17, to avoid further legal action. To view a copy of the demand letter online, follow this link: http://libertyinstitute.org/arkansasstatefootball

Liberty Institute is a national nonprofit legal group dedicated to defending and restoring religious liberty across America — in our schools, for our churches, inside our military and throughout the public arena. Liberty's vision is to reestablish religious liberty in accordance with the principles of our Founding Fathers. For information, visit www.LibertyInstitute.org.

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SOURCE Liberty Institute