Attorney General Miyares Asked to Investigate Suffolk City School Board
Public Advocate President Eugene Delgaudio has written a letter requesting that the Attorney General investigate the Suffolk City School Board for its recent action to silence public comment in the form of prayer at a school board meeting.
"This protection of religious liberty is specifically forbidden in a Supreme Court ruling and spelled out in the Virginia Constitution," said Eugene Delgaudio.
In his September 19 letter to Attorney General Jason Miyares, Delgaudio writes:
Hon.
Jason
Miyares
Attorney
General
of
Virginia
202
N.
9
th
St.
Richmond,
VA
23219
Dear
General
Miyares:
Since
1981,
Public
Advocate
of
the
United
States
has
championed
family
values
including
the
right
of
parents
to
exercise
Free
Speech
and
the
Free
Exercise
rights
with
respect
to
the
education
of
their
children.
Public
Advocate
now
asks
you
to
intervene
to
protect
the
constitutional
rights
of
parents
in
Suffolk
City
against
misguided
school
board
policies
that
threaten
their
rights.
FACTS
On
August
10,
2023,
the
Suffolk
City
School
Board
overtly
discriminated
against
local
citizen
Angela
Kilgore
as
she
spoke
during
a
Board-approved
public
comment
period,
cutting
her
off
and
prohibiting
her
from
saying
a
prayer
for
the
Board
and
the
students
of
Suffolk
City
public
schools.
Specifically,
when
Ms.
Kilgore
announced
at
the
end
of
her
comments
that
she
was
going
to
pray
for
the
Board
and
the
schools,
Board
Chairman
Tyron
Riddick
announced,
"It's
not
permitted
at
this
time."
1
"To
pray
for
our
schools
is
not
permitted?"
Kilgore
asked.
"That's
correct,"
Riddick
responded.
2
He
later
claimed
that
to
allow
a
citizen
to
pray
would
be
unconstitutional.
"This
is
not
the
place,
per
the
law."
3
After
Riddick
shut
down
Kilgore
and
announced
that
the
Board
would
be
in
recess,
a
number
of
citizens
spontaneously
stood
and
quietly
recited
the
Lord's
Prayer.
In
response,
Riddick
ordered
police
officers
to
have
the
citizens
removed
from
the
room.
4
"Conduct
unbecoming
will
not
be
tolerated,"
he
stated.
5
As
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
recently
held
in
Kennedy
v.
Bremerton
School
District,
a
government
may
not
seek
to
"punish
an
individual
for
engaging
in
a
personal
religious
observance,
based
on
a
mistaken
view
that
it
has
a
duty
to
suppress
religious
observances
even
as
it
allows
comparable
secular
speech.
The
Constitution
neither
mandates
nor
tolerates
that
kind
of
discrimination."
142
S.
Ct.
2407,
2415
(2022).
1
Video
of
Suffolk
School
Board
meeting,
Aug.
10,
2023,
at
3:38:37.
2
Id.
3
Id.
at
3:39:25.
4
Id.
at
3:39:45.
5
Id.
at
3:40:44.
The
Court
also
ruled
that
the
government
single
out
the
religious
exercise
of
citizens,
such
as
public
prayers,
for
disfavored
treatment.
Id.
at
2422.
THE
BOARD
OF
EDUCATION'S
ACTION
VIOLATES
THE
U.S.
AND
VIRGINIA
CONSTITUTIONS
The
First
Amendment
makes
clear
that
"Congress
shall
make
no
law
...
abridging
the
free
exercise"
of
religion.
U.S.
CONST.
Amdt.
1.
Mr.
Riddick
incorrectly
stated
that
allowing
Ms.
Kilgore
to
pray
"could
be
a
violation
of
other
persons'
rights."
6
As
the
Supreme
Court
recently
held
in
Kennedy,
"[a]
government
entity's
concerns
about
phantom
constitutional
violations
do
not
justify
actual
violations
of
an
individual's
First
Amendment
rights."
Kennedy
at
2415
(emphasis
added).
Indeed,
such
a
position
would
effectively
silence
all
religious
speech,
as
any
speech
professing
the
tenets
of
one
religion
might
hypothetically
offend
another.
Suffolk's
apparent
policy,
whether
it
predated
Mr.
Riddick's
impromptu
actions
or
not,
is
clearly
targeted
directly
at
religious
speech.
Article
I,
�
16
of
the
Virginia
Constitution
likewise
provides:
That
religion
or
the
duty
which
we
owe
to
our
Creator,
and
the
manner
of
discharging
it,
can
be
directed
only
by
reason
and
conviction,
not
by
force
or
violence;
and,
therefore,
all
men
are
equally
entitled
to
the
free
exercise
of
religion,
according
to
the
dictates
of
conscience.&
No
man
shall
be
&
enforced,
restrained,
molested,
or
burthened
in
his
body
or
goods,
nor
shall
otherwise
suffer
on
account
of
his
religious
opinions
or
belief
&
and
the
same
shall
in
nowise
diminish,
enlarge,
or
affect
their
civil
capacities.
And
the
General
Assembly
shall
not
prescribe
any
religious
test
whatever&.
[Emphasis
added.]
The
decision
of
the
Suffolk
school
board
to
shut
down
Ms.
Kilgore's
Free
Exercise
of
Religion
is
anathema
to
Virginia's
constitutional
structure
and
founding
principles.
6 Id. at 3:46:14.
CONCLUSION
As
the
Supreme
Court
noted
in
Kennedy:
"Respect
for
religious
expressions
is
indispensable
to
life
in
a
free
and
diverse
Republic."
Kennedy
at
2432-2433.
Accordingly,
I
respectfully
request
that
your
office
makes
clear
that
discrimination
by
the
Suffolk
School
Board
to
abridge
the
Free
Exercise
of
Religion
by
its
citizens
violates
the
United
States
and
Virginia
Constitutions
and
is
prohibited.
Sincerely
yours,
Eugene
Delgaudio
President
Youtube Short Video of the School Board posted on several platforms.