In March 2017 the ACLU of Michigan received a complaint that representatives of Gideons International were permitted to enter Union City Middle School to distribute bibles and “Life Books” with religious teachings to fifth grade students in their classrooms.
Throughout the country, federal courts have consistently held that the distribution of Gideon Bibles in public school classrooms during school hours is unconstitutional because it is a governmental endorsement of religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The ACLU wrote a letter to the superintendent requesting that the school district immediately put an end to the practice. In response, the superintendent assured the ACLU that the practice would not continue.
(ACLU Attorneys Michael J. Steinberg and Bonsitu Kitaba-Gaviglio.)
