The following was taken from the ACLJ website:

ACLJ serving our country to preserve our freedoms:

A College Victory for Free Speech:


Sara Sloan of Phoenix, Arizona contacted us regarding the denial of an occupational journalism certificate by her community college due to the religious viewpoint of some of her articles.

Sara graduated in December 2007 from the community college with her Associate’s Degree and is now pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree at another college. During her time as a community college student, Sara wrote for her college’s official newspaper as a staff writer, news editor, and religion editor. She interned for several independent newspapers, publishing a large number of articles on a variety of topics and receiving excellent reviews.

Sara worked diligently to achieve a certificate of completion in journalism in addition to her Associate’s degree. She earned A’s in all of the journalism courses required for this certificate and was exempted from taking several final exams due to her outstanding grades. The final requirement to achieve this certificate was to have a portfolio of articles approved by a “jury” that the professor puts together to review the student’s work. This jury consists of nine writers, editors, and producers from various media companies.

Sara’s portfolio included several articles along with a description of her personal background and aspirations. One of her articles was based on a telephone interview that she had with Kirk Cameron, best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the 1980s sitcom, Growing Pains. Kirk now serves with the Christian television and radio ministry, The Way of the Master. Sara’s professor was pleased with the article at the time it was published. The other articles that Sara submitted contained little, if any, discussion of religious or moral themes.

Sara was quite surprised when she was told that she would not receive the certificate. Her professor informed Sara that she needed to receive 6 out of 9 passing votes from the jury, but she had only received 5 passing votes. It soon became apparent that Sara’s Christian beliefs and viewpoints played a major role in the jury’s decision. Sara was appalled when she reviewed the written comments made by a few of the jurors that voted to deny her the certificate. For example, one juror said the following in explaining his vote to fail Sara:

Regrettably, I have to say “No” to Sara[]. I just don’t feel that Sara is quite ready for the world of secular journalism. . . . [M]y main problem with [Sara] is that she seems to approach all of her stories from a moralistic or even religious bent. . . . Now, there is nothing wrong with that if she wants to be a writer for religious publications . . . but I don’t think her style would be acceptable in a publication of general circulation. . . . At base, I think [Sara] has ample skills to find work in specialized publications but if the question were to be put to me to hire her or not, I would have to say not for most publications on the market place.

Another juror said the following with regard to the Kirk Cameron article in support of her vote to fail Sara:
You identify yourself as a Christian in your bio, and that certainly comes through in the bias of this article. . . . I believe it would be a turn-off to any religion editor or reader who wasn’t a born again Christian. . . . I would have found a way to make this article relevant and inspirational even to readers who aren’t hard-core Christians.

On December 13, 2007, we sent a demand letter to the college’s attorney regarding the denial of Sara’s First Amendment rights. On December 19, 2007, we received a response back from the attorney stating that he was in the process of reviewing the matter with the college. We sent a follow-up e-mail on December 28, 2007.

On January 15, 2008, Sara’s unofficial online transcript stated that she would receive the journalism certificate, although she had not heard anything back from the college about her situation. We sent a follow-up letter that day to the college’s attorney requesting that he contact us.

On January 25, 2008, Sara received a letter stating that her degree and her certificate of completion in journalism were available to be picked up at the college. Sara went to the college and was able to pick up both her degree and her certificate. ACLJ Staff Counsel Erik Zimmerman spoke with Sara and her mother, and they were very pleased with this result. They were confident that the ACLJ’s letter made the difference in Sara receiving her certificate.

Posted: 1/29/2008 9:30:00 AM

Thank you American Center for Law and Justice for fighting for our Freedom of Speech.

Lindyy

I was once a card carrying member of the ACLU. They've done much good in the US. I, too, support their efforts.

aclj sounds like a good outfit

http://ezinearticles.com/?ACLU-or-ACLJ---The-Difference-is-Like-Night-and-Day&id=106793

aclu is a different group see link in other post

OH,my goodness, VERY different. Perhaps he meant ACLJ, but since ACLU - the American Civil Liberties Union receives more liberal news media coverage he could easily have been mistaken.

Lindyy

maybe but i doubt it

if a card carrier they should know the difference

just a thought but hey what do i know

She could have saved herself and the aclj alot of time and trouble if she would have left her religious beliefs at home where they belong and not in her work.

she should not have to

thats the point

it was college not work

I meant school work adj

either way freedom of speech

that would be like saying you are not

permitted to say

they should have left their beliefs at home

She got rejected because a true journalist is unbiased and leaves their religious views and opinions out of it. Plus, if someone wrote a story about the kid from that stupid Growing Pains show, I'd fail her too.

you have no idea what the stories were about

maybe they were stories

maybe she chose to write about beliefs

and if you think that news stories are unbiased

i have some ocean front property in oklahoma for sale cheap

and i will give you a good deal on the brooklyn bridge to go with it

You're not making sense now. Stick to cutting and pasting from the ACLJ website.

what you make assumptions on what the stories

she wrote are about

and i call you on it

and i make no sense

typical slight of hand here

i have no answer so lets make a

unfounded accusation

i am surprised you did not accuse

me of sleeping with lindy

things that make you go hhhhhmmmmmmmmm

The ACLU even once defended the confidentiality of Rush Limbaugh's medical records. Imagine that!

http://www.aclu.org/privacy/medical/14969prs20040112.html

not allowed to have an opinion

USmale....... Are you serious???????

mnhiker......

You seem obsessed with Rush Limbaugh. That tells me Rush is okay.

Sir:

Is it not OBVIOUS that what you think matters not?

The ACLJ proved otherwise, Freedom of speech. Does not apply to just a select few.

Lindyy

No it's the right-wingers who hang on every word that comes out of Rush's mouth, no matter how ridiculous.