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Show Hereford Bull Sells for Record 513,000 Messenger Enterprise, Thursday, February 8, 1979 Axtell Hereford Ranch a major Sanpete County livestock breeding operation, has received the highest price ever paid for a bull at the led Bluff Bull Sale. A Hereford bull consigned by Maynard and Bill Sorenson of Axtell Hereford Ranch was purchased for S13.000 by Wilbur Mills of Gridley, California. The previous record had been set in 1951, when $11,000 was paid for a Hereford bull. In addition to selling the top bull, Axtell Hereford Ranch also sold the third high selling bull to Estes & Estes Hereford Ranch of Burney, Calif., for $6,500 and the fifth high selling bull to Van and Don Winterton of Roosevelt. Utah, for $4,300. The sale was excellent, absolutely excellent,' said sale manager Sam Thurber. A total of 254 bulls were sold for $526,675, an average of $2073.52. Last years average was $1,529.85. In addition to selling the three bulls, Axtell Hereford Ranch sold the reserve champion horned pen of five at $1,600 each. Know Your Religion Series Presents Second Speaker Friday (Continued from Page 1 ) shy in 1963 and a doctorate in religious education from BYU in 1976. He was selected as the Teacher of the Year for 1978 at BYU. He is president of the BYU 10th Stake. He has recently completed assignments on two Church writing committees. He has been a member of three high councils, in a nmn ClfiTH DZrECTS ccfunsD fiTH DEFECTS BCLQi PREVENT BIRTH DEFECTS PMtiaprtsat ff $rc bftraertta. Straight Talk Practical and Moral Isouea lit teeth M a wiiti This is tight articles by Snow College and tkt Utah Endowment for tkt Humanities. Tht trticits art being used by students tt Stow as discussion matenal for a Philosophy dost. Tht pubUcisinvittdtottttnd these discusstons fret of charge on Thursday evenings tt 1:10 pm. m tht Little Theater in tht Noyts Building. These trticits will prtctdt tht discussions by ont week. Plaintiff's attorney. BACKGROUND !n Leaner vs. trimmer. Plaintiffs, taapayers and parents of children who were attending or will attend public secondary schools in Logan, Utah, sued the Logan City School Board and cettain of its officers and employees, hereinafter "Defendants", to enjoin their operation of the LDS Release Time Program of religious instruction as part of the regular school program for ninth grade students of Logan J unior High School and students of Logan High School, asserting that Defendants' presented. ' - . i ' Since coercion" interfering with the free exercise of religion may take the form of persuasion as indicated by Justice Douglas, certainly Defendants practices in Lamer of allowing students to receive academic credit for their completion of "Old Testament" or "New Testament" courses, and of allowing students to meet eligibility requirements for honor roll, sports and studentbody elections, must be viewed as powerful means of persuading students to enroll in the LDS Release Time Program courses. Moreover, there was no discussion in the Zorach decision concerning how "excessive entanglements" between the school system and churches in the operation of release time religious instruction might interfere with the free exercise of religion of students, because no evidence of entanglements was presented. By contrast. Plaintiffs in the Lanner case presented evidence of extensive entanglements between Defendants and the LDS Church in the operation of the program at issue there. These entanglements were and are at least as extensive, if not more extensive, than those considered in the McCullom decision to give rise to interference with students' right to the free exercise of religion. Mr. Justice Frankfurter, in his concurring opinion in McCullom explains why such entanglements (in McCullom, the use of school classrooms for release time religious instruction) are inherently coercive in nature: y e y Religious education so conducted on school time and property is patently woven into the working scheme of the school. The Champaign arrangement thus presents powerful elements of inherent pressure by the school system in the interest of religious sects. The fact that this power has not been used to discriminate is beside the point. Separation is a requirement to abstain from fusing functions of government and of religious sects, not merely to treat them all equally. That a child is offered an alternative may reduce the constraint; it does not eliminate the operation of influ-- . ence by the school in matters sacred to conscience and outside the school's domain. The law of limitation operates, and is not an outstanding characteristic of children. The result is an obvious pressure upon children to attend . . . COMMENTS ON THE COURT'S DECISION 1. "Release time programs of the type involved in Lamer should be declared to constitute a per st violation of the First Amendment. In deciding that Defendants' practice of "releasing" students to attend LDS Release Time Program courses which the Court found to be religious in nature, does not alone "advance religion" so as to constitute a par violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the Court in Lamer perpetuates the legal fiction upon that the only action of the which the Zorach decision war predicated school consisted in "releasing" students who wished to participate in religious studies from their compulsory duty to attend school. Indeed, it might be conceded that if Defendants simply afforded all children a period during or at the end of the school day when "release time" all students were excused to participate in any studies or activities they desired, that Defendants would not be engaged in the advancement of religion". But this is not the type of program that was at issue either in Leaner or Zorach. In each case, the schools involved not only "released" those children who wished to participate in religious instruction, but refused to release students who did not wish to attend religious instruction and compelled them to continue in their secular studies. This practice of conditioning release from school and secular tred upon students' attendance and participation in religious imtrnction inherently and obviously "advances religion by telling students, in effect, that the school is willing to excuse them from their own secular studies on the condition that they participate in religious instruction and that those students who do not participate will be farced to remain in school. That Defendants depend upon the of children who do not participate in the program as a factor of inducing participation of children in such programs is evident bum Defendants' refusal to adopt a system in which all children are released bom school during a certain period of the day to participate in whatever studies they desire, which system would allow students to pursue a wide range of studies and accommodate the desire of some parents to have their children participate in religious instruction. Considering the undisputed evidence that Defendants refused to release students who did not participate in religious instruction and compelled them to perform then secular studies while releasing children who participated in the program from such obligations, the conclusion of the Court in Lanner that the Defendants' operation of the program must be seen as having a primary effect which is simply the innocuous diminution of the number of children in school st a cettain of the day "must be questioned." In my view. Defendants' practice of releasing students from secular studies upon the condition that they participate in religious instruction provides a powerful incentive to students to engage in such studies which advance religion in a manner prohibited by the First Amendment, and all programs that operate on such principle should be declared to constitute a per st violation of the First Amendment. Ji ' . Dr. George W. Pace education is constitutional under the ffurtzmen. The released-timprogram as practiced in the Logan School District is constitutional under the requirements of Lemon v. Ksrttn, 405 U.S. 502 (1971). The case of Smith v. Smith, 525 F.2d 121 (4th Cir. 1975), cert. den. 95 S.Ct. 855 (1976), has held a program virtually identical to Logan School District's released-timprogram to be constitutional under It men. R. Released-tim- three-par- t religious e test of lemon Plaintiffs submit that under the Court's decision in McCullom which was expressly upheld in Zorach, the Defendants' operation of the LDS Release Time Program, at least in the particulars found by the Court to have constituted an establishment of religion should also have been found to interfere with the free exercise of religion of students, in violation of the First Amendment. LANNER vs. WIMMER Challenge to the operation of the LDS Release Time Program in Logan, Utah. Statement by Arthur H. Nielsen, Defendants attorney. v. e e valid secular purposes. 1. Released time h 2. The primary effect of the released-tim- e program does not advance religion. Since no funds or direct aid is given to the seminaries by the school district, any benefit is purely indirect and incidental. Public school cooperation is completely passive. 9. The program does not involve an impermissible amount of governmenul entanglements with religion. The First Amendment does not require absolute separation. Some cooperation between religion and government is necessary. Inunctions between Logan School District and the LDS Seminary in no wise suggest excessive entanglement between school district and seminary. POINT n THE GRANTING OF CREDITFOR LDS SEMINARY CLASSES HAS A ADVANCE DOES NOT PRIMARILY SECULAR PURPOSE. RELIGION AND DOES NOT INVOLVE EXCESSIVE ENTANGLE MENTS. The recognition of credit for Bible study is constitutional under the Lemon test. To refuse to recognize credit from private religious institutions because courses are or might be religious would be a violation of the free exercise of religion of transferring studentx. The recognition of suck credit is properly for the student' benefit, not the Seminary. No aid" flows to the LDS Church. A. The granting of credit has the secular purposes of furtheiing educational opportunities, promoting diversity in education and promoting fundamental fence pta of American culture and society, B. The granting of credit does not "advance religion." The district should grant credit for Bible if k is to allow credit for courses which conflict with religion in order to properly remain "neutral." The issue of whether government must recognize and give credit to religious church education has been decided in cases involving credit from schools. There is no basis to distinguish released-timparochial school credit. C. Recognition of credit from released-timdoes not involve "excessive entanglements." No more "entanglement" is involved here than is necessary far recognition and transfer of credit from any other public or private institution. full-tim- e e full-tim- e e POINT 1U THE COURT SHOULD REFUSE TO INQUIRE INTO THE NATURE OF LDS SEMINARY CLASSES FOR WHICH CREDIT IS ACCEPTED AND SHOULD NOT IMPOSE UPON DEFENDANTS THE DUTY TO DO SO. Any inquiry into the nature of LDS Seminary course materials and the Seminary instructor's tesching of the class are a violation of the free exercise of religion by the teacher and the students. The Court cannot constitutionally require Defendants to remove all traces of denominatiooalism before credit is recognized. POINT IV THE ENTIRE PROGRAM OF RELEASED TIME FOR BIBLE AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION SHOULD NOT BE ENJOINED IF SOME FACET OF THE PROCRAM VIOLATES PLAINTIFF'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. Released time for religious instruction is constitutional. If this Court finds any specific practice of the LDS release-tim- e program unconstitutional, , it should declare only that specific practice to be impermissible and not the entire release-tim- e program. ... The children belonging to sects will thus have inculcated in them a feeling of separation when the school should be a training ground for habits of community or they will have religious instruction in a faith which is not that of their parents. As a result, the public school system of Champaign actively furthers inculcation in the religious tenants of some faiths, and in the process sharpens the consciousness of children committed to its care. These are consequences amenable to statistics. But they are precisely those consequences which the Constitution was directed when it prohibited the Government common to all from becoming embroiled, however innocently, in the destructive religious conflicts which the history of this country records some dark pages. tt (V THE PUBLISHER series speaker guidelines. It was not until December 14, 1975, that Plaintiff Lanner first complained that the nature of the courses wss "denominational" and an indoctrination in the LDS religion. In response to this allegation, Defendant Blair visited with Reverend Minor Bruner of the Presbyterian seminary and Mr. Jack Kidd, area coordinator for the LDS seminaries, and discussed with each of them separately for approximately one hour the respective course offerings. Mr. Blair briefly examined the materials presented by each and generally ascertained that the subject matter being taught wss the Bible. Thereafter Mr. Blair indicated to Mr. Lanner that the School Board did not accept the latter's assessment of the LDS program nor his opinions of the law. On Sunday, March IS, 1977, the American Civil Liberties Union of Uuh placed an advertisement in the local newspaper seeking support from persons willing to permit their names to be used as plaintiffs in an action already prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union to be filed against the Logan School District. Plaintiff John Sc betting responded to this advertisement and contacted the American Civil Liberties Union office in Salt Lake City. He was thereafter contacted by Plaintiff Lanner. Mr. Sc betting testified that though he had had concern regarding the propriety of the LDS seminary program far a long time, he had never investigated k or done anything about k. Upon being assured by Mr. Lanner that be would not have to bear any costs or expenses of the litigation, Scherting agreed to become a plaintiff with Mr. and Mrs. Lanner. Mr. Lanner likewise testified that he had been assured by the American Civil Liberties Union that he and Mrs. Lanner would not be personally liable for any of the costs and expenses of the litigation and would be relieved of all personal liability therefor. On March 17, 1977, the action was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union through the named Plaintiffs against the members of the Logan Board of Education, the Logan School Superintendent and the principals of the Logan High School sod the Logan Junior High School. Plaintiffs' original complaint alleged that: 1. The Logan Board of Education operates and maintains a program of religious instruction" offered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-daSaints "as a part of tht regular school curriculum." 2. The operation of the LDS released time program by the Defendants violates the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in that k constitutes an unlawful "establishment of religion." 5. The operation of the LDS released time program by the Defendants violates Article I, Section 4, and Article X, Sections I, It and IS, of the Constitution of the State of Utah. Subsequent to the filing of the original complaint by Plaintiffs, the Uuh State Board of Education moved to intervene, which motion was granted. Thereafter, Plaintiffs filed sn emended complaint against all the Defendants, including the Uuh Sure Board of Education, in which amended complaint three new claims were asserted, namely: 4. The operation of the LDS released time program by Defendanu was committed by them under color of sute law and pursuant to an organized plan and conspiracy to subject Plaintiffs and others similarly situated to the deprivations of privileges and immunities secured to them by the Constitutions and laws of the United Sutea sod the Sute of Uuh in violation of Title 42, U.S.C., Sections 1951, 1915 and 1985. 5. "The operation of the LDS released time program by the Defendants as aforesaid violates the provisions of Section U.C.A (1955), as amended." The Defendants denied that they or any of them at any time operated as a part of the or mainuined a program of religious instruction regular school curriculum in the Logan School District. They further denied that the operation of the LDS seminary program by the LDS Church is in any way violative of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United Sutes or of any provision of the Constitution or laws of the State of Uuh. Defendanu further denied that the acceptance of credit for courses uught in the Bible by LDS seminary or the Presbyterian seminary on a transfer of credit from those private schools, in the same manner as credit is accepted on transfer from any public or private school, is in violation of either federal or sute law. The Defendanu further mainuined that this Court should refuse to inquire into the denominational or nondenominationai nature of the Bible courses Uught by the LDS seminary. In the event, however, the Court should determine to consider the matter, Defendanu denied that the program of instruction and study of the Bible in the LDS seminary is mainly denominational or otherwise in violation of the policy guidelines of the Uuh Sute Board of Education. The Court dismissed Plaintiffs' claim described in paragraph 4 above at the conclusion of the Plaintiffs case and it was not a matter of serious dispute. However, the other matters were submitted to the Court and decided by it. In support of their position, Defendanu made the following points: Although this proposition was of doubtful merit when announced in Zorach for the reasons discussed under Point 1 hereof, it is certainly much more tenable under the facts of Zorach than when applied to the evidence presented in Lanner. In Zorach , the Supreme Court held that the only act of the school in relation to the conduct of the release time program of religious instruction there, was the school's passive release of students to attend religious instruction courses at locations away from the school. In Lanner, however, the Court acknowledged that the evidence demonstrated that Defendants' assistance to the LDS Church in the operation of the program in several particulars was so gross as to amount to an "establishment of religion". Speaking for the majority in Zorach, Justice Douglas notes that the result in that case might have been different if evidence of the school' i involvement in the program went beyond mere release of children from their secular studies. He states: ... If in fact coercion were used, if it were established that any one or more of the teachers were using their office to persuade or force atudentsao take reMrlbus instruction, a wholly different case- would be- operation of the program, under the facts and circumstances alleged, established religion and interfered with the free exercise of religion, in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and parallel provisions of the Utah Constitution. Plaintiffs asked the federal court to prevent Defendants from operating the program altogether, or, in the alternative, to preclude Defendants from engaging in numerous practices which had the effect of "advancing religion" and involving the school system in "excessive entanglements" with the LDS Church in the operation of the program. Defendants denied that the "Old Testament" and "New Testament" LDS Release Time Program courses were religious or sectarian, and contended that such courses objectively presented the Bible as history ' and taught students morals and cititenship through the use of Bible stories. Defendants admitted that the other two courses comprising "Church History and Doctrine" and "Book of the program for which students did not receive academic credit, were Mormon" religious and sectarian in nature. Defendants denied that they assisted in the operation of the program or were "entangled in its operations, beyond releasing students who wished to psrtkipate in the program from their regular school work. trial, Judge Clarence A. Brimmer of the United Following a States District Court of Wyoming, issued a opinion in which he held that all of the courses in the LDS Release Time Program were religious and sectarian in nature, and that several aspects of the Defendants' operation of the program violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Although the Court did not require Defendants to cease and desist from their operation of the program, the Court did order Defendants to cease and desist from the following practices: (1) having students or other school personnel gather attendance records from program courses: (2) recognizing attends nee in any of the program courses in satisfaction of any school requirements for sttendsnee or to make a student eligible for interschool sports, honor roll, or studentbody elections; (S) counting attendance in program courses for the purpose of Average Daily Attendance for the purpose of receiving funds from the State of Utah; and (4) awarding academic credit to Logan High School students for their completion of the "Old Testament" and New Testament" courses. The Court also held that the 1949 policy of the Defendant Utah State Board of Education allowing the sward of academic credit upon completion of Bible history courses entitled Old Testament atrd "New Testament" was unconstitutional and violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Court, however, rejected Plaintiff's claim that Defendants' operation of the LDS Release Time Program interfered with the 'free exercise of religion" of students who did not participate in the program. THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED religious studies "violated the First Amendment." After making inquiry and investigation regarding the American Civil Liberties Union's claims and after requesting and receiving S legal opinion from the attorney for the Utah School Boards Association, Mr. Blair, Superintendent, responded to the American Civil Liberties Union chairman that the released time activities did not violate the Pint Amendment of the Constitution or the policies of the Utah State Board of Education. However, Mr. Blair further wrote to the school principals and reminded them that they should continue to follow the State Board ... No suggestion is made that Defendants, or the authorities of either seminary or public school have used any coercion to force unwilling students into seminary courses. On the contrary, the public school doors remain open for classes for students. The program is conducted without noticeable effect on the remainder of the students. LANNER vs. WIMMER Challenge to the operation a f the LOS Release Time Program in Logan. Utah. Statement by Kathryn Collard. j On October 14. 1975, the chairman of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Plaintiff Ronald Lanner, wrote to the president of the Logan School Board and complained of what were termed impermissible administrative entanglements between the Logan schools and the LDS seminary and that the granting of credit for 2. Plaintiffs' Free Exercise Claim In rejecting Plaintiffs' claim that Defendant' operation of the LDS Release Time Program interfered with the right of children to the free exercise of religion, the Court relies on the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Zorach lor the proposition that bishopric and served in many church teaching capacities. Dr. Pace, the youngest erf 12 children, was born and raised on a farm in Burley, Idaho. He married the former Diane Carman of Portland, Ore. They are the parents of nine daughters and two sons. ClfiTH DSruCTS NtwipsHncrf th Pages POINT V POLICY OF THE STATE BOARD OF THE RELEASED-TIMEDUCATION IS NOT AN ESTABUSHMENT OF RELIGION UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT. Plaintiffs have not shown any basis for the suggestion that the Uuh Education policy sutements (1949 or 1969) are unconstitutional. The policy sutemenu are generally more restrictive than the constitutional sundards of Zorach and Lemon. Sute Board of POINT VI THE FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT SHOULD ABSTAIN FROM RULING ON THE QUESTION OF WHETHER LOGAN SCHOOL DISTRICT IS COMPLYING OR WHETHER IT MUST COM PLY WITH STATE BOARD POLICY. Whether the Old or New Tesument Bible courses are mainly denominational" is an issue involving only the interpreution of a sute policy. If the real subsunce of Plaintiff's case is only a sute claim, this Court should properly refuse pendent jurisdiction and dismiss the sute claim. POINT VII POINT I non-relea- The maintenance of the seminary which affords opportunity for high school students in the State of Utah to study the Bible on a released time basis from the Public School System does not offend the doctrine of Separation of Church and State; nor does the granting of credit on a transfer from the seminary by the public schools for such study of the Bible violate the provisions of the First Amendment of the Constitution, as made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. A recent case in the United States District Court for the District of Utah (Ronald M. Lanner, et al, v. The Board of Education for the City of Logan, et al, and The Utah State Board of Education, Defendant in has sought to abolish "released ) Intervention, Civil No. time" for students in high school and junior high school to participate and be involved in the LDS seminary program, together with abolishment of the recognition by the schools of not to exceed two credits toward graduation for a student who has studied the Bible in the seminary program and transfers such credit to the high school. In order to discuss this case, it is necessary to give a brief background leading up to the filing of the action: NC77-0025- . THE RELEASED-TIMPROGRAM OF THE LOGAN SCHOOL DISTRICT DOES NOT OFFEND THE ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT. A. A released-timprogram subsuntially identical to the program of the Logan School District has been determined constitutional by the Unites Sutes Supreme Court in Zorach v. Clauson, the controlling authority in this case. e . A program of released-timfor religious instruction was held not to be a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution in Zorach v. Clauson, 545 U.S. 505 (1952). Defendants submit that the Supreme Courts decision in Zorach is dispositive of the issue of constitutionality of released-time- . Subsequent opinions of the Court reaffirm the validity of the principle suted in Zorach. The program found constitutional in Zorach is subsuntially identical in iu major features to the released-timprogram as presently operating in the Logan School District. The Court in Zorach held such programs of religious education to be constitutional. Zorach v. Clauson controls this case. e e THE NAMED PLAINTIFFS ARE NOT THE REAL PARTIES INTEREST. IN The American Civil Liberties Union, not the Lanners or Mr. Scherting, is the real Plaintiff and is responsible for prosecuting this action. Mr. and Mrs. Lanner's involvement herein is limited to acting as officers of the local chapter of the ACLU. Mr. Scherting is only a named Plaintiff through solichation by the Salt Lake Office of ACLU.' AO of the named Plaintiff have been assured by the ACLU that they will have no personal financial obligation or alternate financial liability if they appear as Plaintiffs. This certainly "smacks" of champerty and maintenance. CONCLUSION The Court has issued iu opinion which in subsunce sustains and permiu released time but rejects the right of the students to have credit recognized in the public schools for the study of the Bible. The case is still before the Court on post judgment motions so that the matter has not yet been fully adjudicated. |