
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 3, 1994                   TAG: 9404030166
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BRISTOL                                LENGTH: Short

LAWYER: SCHOOL BIBLE USE ILLEGAL

An attorney for the Virginia School Boards Association says a proposal to use the Bible as a teaching tool in Bristol schools would be unconstitutional.

Faced with that opinion, School Board members who supported the proposal said Friday they likely will not press the issue.

Richard Carter, a Charlottesville lawyer, said the Bristol School Board resolution proposed Monday would violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

Carter based his opinion on the so-called "Lemon Test," developed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lemon vs. Kurtzman.

According to the test, a governmental practice must reflect a clearly secular purpose, have a primary effect that does not advance or inhibit religion and avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.

"Even if I could get past the first prong of the test, I think it would be very difficult to argue that required reading of the Bible does not violate the second and third prongs," he said.

School Board Chairman Ron Morgan said the board does not have the money for a legal challenge.

"I'm not going to push it any further than this," he said.

School Board member Jim Clifton, who read excerpts from Carter's letter to the board during a Friday news conference, said, "It does look like maybe we are fighting a losing battle."

The resolution offered by the School Board proposed using the Bible to teach grammar, history and literature. It would place the Bible on a required reading list for grades 9-12.

by CNB