An apparent mistake by the lead attorney for the Oklahoma State Department of Education might keep a lawsuit over state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters’ Bible-teaching mandate in state court.
A federal judge has given the agency and its general counsel, Michael Beason, until Aug. 26 to explain why the case shouldn’t be remanded back to state court because of the error.
On June 27, the day Walters issued his mandate that the Bible be incorporated into classroom teaching in all Oklahoma classrooms, Joseph Price of Locust Grove filed a lawsuit in Mayes County District Court, saying he “is concerned that this policy violates the constitutional separation of church and state, infringes on the religious freedom of students and parents, and imposes religious beliefs on public school students.”
In the lawsuit, Price said the mandate violates both the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article II, Section 5 of the Oklahoma Constitution . That part of the state Constitution prohibits the use of public money or property for the benefit of any religious or sectarian institution.