AUSTIN, TEXAS (May 8, 2013) – Representative James White issued the following statement today after Hardin County District Court Judge Steven Thomas granted victory to the Kountze Cheerleaders in their seven-month-long court case involving their decision to display Bible verses on run-through banners at Kountze ISD football games. The case began last year after the Madison, Wisconsin based Freedom From Religion Foundation issued a complaint, seeking to impede the students’ constitutional rights and religious liberties.
“This is a win for our community. Our nation was founded upon Christian values, and we will not abandon those beliefs. It is within these cheerleaders’ First Amendment right to express themselves through biblical verse, and I hope this ruling confirms that out-of-state, atheist pressure groups will not interfere with Southeast Texas and the values we share,” stated Representative White.
Representative White continued, “I was proud to join Governor Perry, Attorney General Abbott, the Liberty Institute, and Mr. Starnes in supporting the Kountze Cheerleaders against this attack on their religious liberty, and I am happy their God-given rights have been upheld. Without question, our state’s leadership and millions of Texans supported these young men and women in Kountze, and lifted them up in prayer.”
Representative White is a Member of the Texas House of Representatives on behalf of District 19, composed of Polk, Tyler, Jasper, Newton, and Hardin counties. He serves on the Agriculture and Livestock Committee, and he is the Vice-Chairman of the Corrections Committee.
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Contact: Tyler Norris
512-463-0490