The Washington, DC-based Smithsonian Museum not too long ago agreed to pay $50,000 to vacationers who had been beforehand kicked out for sporting pro-life clothes.
Based on CBN Information, the Nationwide Air and Area Museum has agreed to pay a settlement to a gaggle of 12 plaintiffs who’re college students and their mother and father at Our Woman of the Rosary Catholic College in Greenville, South Carolina.
The scholars initially filed the lawsuit after visiting the museum in the course of the March for Life rally on January 20, 2023. On the time, everybody on the Smithsonian tour wore beanies that learn “Rosary PRO-LIFE.”
The American Middle for Legislation and Justice, which represented the plaintiffs, famous that “museum workers mocked the scholars, referred to as them slurs and commented that the museum was a 'impartial zone' the place they may not make such statements.”
The worker “finally compelled the scholars to go away the museum … rubbing their fingers gleefully as they exited the constructing.”
Nevertheless, on the identical time, different guests to the museum wore several types of hats with none issues.
“That is completely outrageous, unconstitutional discrimination, and the ACLJ is preventing again,” Jordan Sekulow, lawyer and govt director of the ACLJ, wrote on the time.
Within the lawsuit, the plaintiffs accused the federal museum of violating their rights underneath the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Structure, in addition to the Spiritual Freedom Restoration Act.
“This was a transparent violation of the First Modification, not solely of their freedom of speech, but in addition of faith. The federal authorities merely can not ban speech that it or its staff disagree with,” Sekulow stated.
“Think about this little one of yours being harassed, scolded and thrown out of a museum – the place different kids can go – simply due to their beliefs,” he added.
A month after the lawsuit was filed, the Smithsonian Establishment entered right into a consent decree.
They agreed to “reiterate to all safety officers stationed in any respect Smithsonian museums open to the general public and the Nationwide Zoological Park that Smithsonian coverage doesn’t prohibit guests from sporting hats or different varieties of clothes with messages, together with spiritual and political expression.”
Final week, the 2 sides reached a settlement settlement the place the Smithsonian agreed to pay $50,000 and permit vacationers a non-public tour of the Nationwide Air and Area Museum and listen to a video apology from museum officers.
“Defendants assert that the Smithsonian Establishment carried out a radical investigation of the occasions that occurred on January 20, 2023,” the settlement states.
“Defendants thus verify that Smithsonian officers have recognized and spoken with all officers of the Workplace of Protecting Providers identified to have been concerned in or concerned within the alleged occasions, in addition to with Allied Common Safety Providers relating to their officers.” concerned in instructing prosecutors to take away their hats.'
The museum additionally agreed to “reiterate by a mass distribution technique to all safety officers stationed in any respect Smithsonian museums open to the general public and the Nationwide Zoological Park the present Smithsonian coverage relating to the sporting of hats or different varieties of clothes with messages, together with spiritual and political expression.”
The ACLJ beforehand reached a settlement in an analogous case in December after Nationwide Archives and Data Administration (NARA) safety officers threatened to kick out guests who had been additionally sporting pro-life clothes.
Picture credit score: ©Getty Pictures/Alex Wong/Workers
Milton Quintanilla is a contract author and content material creator. He’s a contributor to Christian Headlines and host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast dedicated to sound doctrine and biblical reality. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
