A lawsuit by a
girl expelled from a private Christian school for kissing
another girl off campus seeks at least $1 million in
damages. Attorneys for Covenant Christian Academy in
Loganville, Ga., say the school has a
constitutional right to expel students for "sexual immorality."
Jessica Bradley, a ninth-grader when she was
expelled in April, and her father have alleged
invasion of privacy and breach of contract in a
superior court suit filed last month in Gwinnett County. The
suit says that at an April 22 sleepover party
with several other female students Bradley kissed
another student and at an earlier date had kissed a
different female student.
Administrators cited the school handbook, which
reads, "Any behavior, on campus or away, which
indicates that a student has disregard for the spirit
of the school standards, would be sufficient reason to ask
for him/her to withdraw from Covenant Christian Academy."
David Clark, the Bradleys' lawyer, said the
rules are too vague, never specifically mentioning a
same-sex relationship.
In court documents filed last week, school
attorneys cited a defense of "ecclesiastical
abstention," which prohibits courts from interfering
with the internal politics of a church. Clark said that
while the First Amendment gives churches the right to
believe what they wish, "it does not give them the
absolute right to act how they wish to act." (AP)
