Hansen v. Ann Arbor Public Schools

• Decision Date: 05 December 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02CV72802DT.,02CV72802DT.
• Citation: 293 F.Supp.2d 780
• Parties: Elizabeth HANSEN, Constance Hansen, and Ralph Martin, Plaintiffs, v. ANN ARBOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

293 F.Supp.2d 780

Elizabeth HANSEN, Constance Hansen, and Ralph Martin, Plaintiffs, v. ANN ARBOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, et al., Defendants.

No. 02CV72802DT.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

December 5, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert J. Muise, Esq., Thomas Moor Law Center, Ann Arbor, MI, for Plaintiff or Petitioner.

Seth M. Lloyd, Esq., Dykema Gossett, Detroit, MI, for Defendant or Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING THE PARTIES' CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROSEN, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This case presents the ironic, and unfortunate, paradox of a public high school celebrating "diversity" by refusing to permit the presentation to students of an "unwelcomed" viewpoint on the topic of homosexuality and religion, while actively promoting the competing view. This practice of "one-way diversity," unsettling in itself, was rendered still more troubling —both constitutionally and ethically —by the fact that the approved viewpoint was, in one manifestation, presented to students as religious doctrine by six clerics (some in full garb) quoting from religious scripture. In its other manifestation, it resulted in the censorship by school administrators of a student's speech about "what diversity means to me," removing that portion of the speech in which the student described the unapproved viewpoint.

All of this, of course, raises the question, among others presented here, of what "diversity" means and whether a school may promote one view of "diversity" over another. Even accepting that the term "diversity" has evolved in recent years to mean, at least colloquially, something more than the dictionary definition, the notion of sponsorship of one viewpoint to the exclusion of another hardly seems to further the school's purported objective of "celebrating diversity." In this context, it would do well to recall the Supreme Court's admonition in another school speech case:

In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism... [and] students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate. They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved.

Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 511, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969).

Before moving to an analysis of the case, it remains only to make clear not only what this case is about, but what it is not about. It is not about intolerance towards homosexuality or the appropriateness, religiously or otherwise, of different lifestyles. The case is, however, about tolerance of different, perhaps "politically incorrect," viewpoints in the public schools.

II. PERTINENT FACTS

THE PARTIES

Plaintiff Elizabeth ("Betsy") Hansen was, at the time of the events giving rise to this action, a senior at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School ("Pioneer" or "PHS") and a member of the PHS student organization, "Pioneers for Christ" ("PFC").¹ Plaintiff Constance Hansen is Elizabeth's mother. Constance Hansen also has a minor son who was a sophomore at PHS during the 2001-2002 school year who is currently a senior at PHS. She also has a minor daughter who is currently a sophomore at Pioneer. Ralph Martin is the father of Maureen Martin who, in March 2002, like Elizabeth Hansen, was a senior at PHS.

Defendant Ann Arbor Public Schools is a Michigan public school district. Pioneer High School is a part of the Ann Arbor Public Schools. It has an enrollment of approximately 2,700 students. Defendant Henry Caudle is the Principal of Pioneer High School. Defendant Lara Erickson is a "class principal," which is an assistant principal position at PHS.² Defendant Sunnie Korzdorfer is a teacher at PHS. During the 2001-2002 school year, Ms. Korzdorfer was the faculty advisor of the PHS Student Council and was responsible for the "2002 Diversity Week" events. Defendants Parker Pennington, IV and Rodney Mancini, are also teachers at PHS. Pennington and Mancini are the faculty advisors for Pioneer's "Gay/Straight Alliance" ("GSA"). Defendant Denise Eaddy-Richardson is currently a high school counselor in Ann Arbor. During the 2001-2002 school year, Ms. Eaddy-Richardson, who is also a licensed attorney, held the position of "Equity Ombudsman" for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, an administrative position reporting directly to the Superintendent of Schools.³ Among Ms. Eaddy-Richardson's responsibilities as Equity Ombudsman was ensuring compliance with the school district's nondiscrimination and harassment policies.

PIONEER HIGH SCHOOL'S "DIVERSITY WEEK"

For at least ten years, Pioneer High School has been holding a "Diversity Week."⁴ Traditionally, the week's activities include a general assembly program, panel discussions on race, religion and sexual orientation, an "open mic" session during lunch hour, and a number of multi-cultural activities involving music and food. The panel discussions are held during class time in the PHS "Little Theater," and teachers sign up to bring their classes to hear the discussions.⁵

Diversity Week 2002 was held March 18-22. The week's events were organized by the Student Council under the supervision of faculty advisor, Sunnie Korzdorfer. Tom Jensen, Student Council President in 2002, testified in his deposition that with regard to the choice of events and any decisions that had to be made with regard to the running and organization of Diversity Week, the Student Council had to obtain the approval of Ms. Korzdorfer. [Jensen Dep., pp. 47-48.] Ms. Korzdorfer testified that she, in turn, answered to Class (i.e., Assistant) Principal Lara Erickson, and that the ultimate approval/decision-making authority rested with PHS's principal, Henry Caudle. [Korzdorfer Dep., p. 17.]

THE "HOMOSEXUALITY AND RELIGION" PANEL

Although in previous years, the Student Council organized all of the panel discussions, because in 2002 the Council had decided to add a number of new activities to the week's events, Ms. Korzdorfer and Student Council President Tom Jensen decided that it was going to be difficult for them to plan all of the activities. Therefore, the decision was made to solicit other student organizations to assist with organizing the panels. E-mails were sent to club advisors. The only club to respond to the Student Council's invitation was the Gay/Straight Alliance. The GSA asked if it could run the sexual orientation panel. Ms. Korzdorfer agreed, and turned over entirely the sponsorship and administration of this panel to the GSA and its co-sponsors, Parker Pennington and Rodney Mancini.⁶ [See Parker Pennington Dep. Ex. 1.] The Student Council retained responsibility for the race and religion panels, along with its responsibility for the other Diversity Week activities.

Traditionally, the panels presenting the three race, religion, and sexual orientation panel discussions were composed of PHS students and this was the anticipated format when Diversity Week 2002 was being planned. In fact, the Student Council continued with the student-composed panel format with the "race" and "religion" panels that it organized.

The Gay/Straight Alliance, however, decided to change both the composition and the format of the panel that it was organizing. First, instead of presenting a panel discussion on "sexual orientation," the GSA decided to change the panel's topic to "Religion and Homosexuality." Second, the GSA decided that, instead of having PHS students as presenters, its "Religion and Homosexuality" panel would be composed of adult religious leaders from the Ann Arbor community. Parker Pennington, the GSA's faculty advisor, testified in his deposition that the decision was made to have adult religious leaders as presenters instead of students because the club "want[ed] to have people who could speak with some authority on some of the more technical aspects of things." [Pennington Dep., p. 88.] Pennington explained that by "technical aspects," he meant:

A: Instead of personal belief actually being able to make reference to religious documents and that sort of thing that people would have studied extensively as opposed to a less learned approach maybe that students might have.

Q: And religious documents are you referring to, for example, the Bible?

A: That would be one such document, yes.

Id. at 88-89.

Pennington said that the GSA had noted from several previous sexual orientation panel discussions, that a lot of the more controversial aspects revolved around people's religious backgrounds and religious objections to homosexuality. Therefore, he and the club members decided that "it would be best not to have kids discuss... but to have biblical scholars or people trained in a more scholarly way to deal with the [] complex nature of the interpretations of various passages of various [religious] documents...." Id. at 157.

Pennington testified that to come up with a list of the adults to invite to be panel members on the Homosexuality and Religion panel, Pennington gave Jeremy O'Brien, the GSA club member who was working on the Diversity Week program, a copy of Pride Source, a guidebook for gay and lesbian resources in the State of Michigan, which included a listing of churches. Id. at 90. This listing was supplemented with names which Rodney Mancini, co-sponsor of the GSA, obtained from his minister, Rev. John Nieman of St. Andrews Episcopal Church. [Mancini Dep., pp. 14-17.] According to Mancini, his minister "is very gay friendly" and his input was sought because he would "add a positive perspective" on homosexuality and religion. Id. at p. 138. Pennington explained the purpose of having gay friendly religious leaders as presenters: "Messages of religious disapproval are common on the radio and television and in print. This panel [was] specifically designed to offer a more welcoming message." Id. at 91. The members of the panel were selected "because the institutions they represent were welcoming and...