La Plata, MD – A Marine veteran who was banned from La Plata High School after becoming enraged that his daughter was being forced to study Islam, filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 27 against Charles County Public Schools, the Board of Education, the principal and vice-principal of the school.
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that the defendants violated the plaintiff’s constitutional and statutory rights; a temporary and permanent injunction barring the defendants from endorsing Islam or favoring Islam over Christianity and other religions; and from enforcing the no trespassing order issued against John Kevin Wood in October 2014.
The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, noted on their web site that they filed legal action on behalf of Wood, and his wife, Melissa, of Newburg, who refused to allow their teenage daughter to be subjected to studies on the Islamic religion in her high school world history class.
Wood, who served eight years in the Marine Corps was deployed in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, also deployed to the Pentagon as a firefighter during 911. After he became agitated about his daughter’s course of studies, he was told he would no longer be allowed on school property.
“The defendants forced Wood’s daughter to disparage her Christian faith by reciting the Shahada, and acknowledging Mohammed as her spiritual leader,” President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center Richard Thompson said. “Her world history class spent one day on Christianity and two weeks immersed in Islam. Such discriminatory treatment of Christianity is an unconstitutional promotion of one religion over another.”
“We are aware of the lawsuit, but we have not yet been served,” Charles County Public Schools Spokesperson Katie O’Malley-Simpson stated. “We cannot comment further at this time.”
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com
The BayNet’s original story on the John Kevin Wood ban from La Plata High
http://www.thebaynet.com/articles/1014/parentofstudentbannedfromlaplatahighschool.html