Photo: Bible/Shutterstock.com

A federal appeals court has ruled that a student and her agnostic mother can sue a West Virginia public school district on claims that the girl was marginalized and ostracized in the community because she chose not to attend a Bible education class.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday reinstated the lawsuit filed by the plaintiff, Elizabeth Deal, and her daughter, Jessica. The Freedom From  Religion Foundation joined the lawsuit as a co-plaintiff.

Fourth Circuit Judge Diana Motz said U.S. District Judge David Faber of the Southern District of West Virginia erred when he dismissed the lawsuit.

Faber reasoned that Jessica suffered no actual injury and therefore lacked standing to sue. He also noted that the Mercer County Board of Education and the Bluefield school district had suspended the Bible study class after the lawsuit had been filed, and that there was no ongoing injury.

But Motz said there was evidence that Jessica continues to suffer injury since her mother has moved her out of the Mercer County schools and into another county's schools.

“Unlike injuries that occurred in the past and may no longer be imminent, ongoing injuries are, by definition, actual injuries,” Motz wrote.

Bluefield is an economically impoverished town of about 10,000 located in southernmost West Virginia. At one point back in the early- to mid-1900s, it had been considered a boom town because of its vast freight rail yard and its proximity to the area's coal fields.

For the past 80 years, according to the ruling, the Bluefield school district has been offering its “Bible in the Schools” program at its elementary and middle schools. The classes, until they were suspended, were conducted during the regular school day and lasted for about 30 minutes for primary students and 45 minutes for middle school students, according to the decision, which noted that, while the school administered the program, it was funded privately by the Bluefield Bible Study Fund.

Attendance in the Bible-study classes, Motz said, was optional but nearly universal.

“Participation is ostensibly voluntary, since parents must first return a permission slip to allow their children to attend,” the judge said. “In practice, nearly all students participate.”

Deal, who claimed she wanted to expose Jessica to a variety of religions and allow her to decide her own beliefs, refused to sign the permission slip. At first, Jessica was sent to what the court described as a “coatroom” during the Bible class, then later was sent to either the library or an empty classroom. No alternate instruction was provided during that time, the suit claimed.

The suit claimed Jessica experienced harassment, including being told she was “going to hell.”

Deal eventually moved Jessica to another school in another county and filed her lawsuit, alleging that the district holding the classes violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

In reversing dismissal, the Fourth Circuit panel, sitting in Richmond, said Jessica's alleged injuries were “clearly traceable” to the Bible study program.

If the suspended program were eliminated entirely, “Deal would no longer feel compelled to send Jessica to a neighboring school district to avoid what Deal views as state-sponsored religious instruction,” Motz said.

The family's attorney, Marcus Schneider of Steele Schneider in Pittsburgh, referred inquiries to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. A spokesman for the foundation, Patrick Elliott, issued a statement.

“The court rightly found that Ms. Deal and her daughter can challenge unconstitutional Bible instruction within Mercer County schools. This case ensures that public schools are not able to continue to violate the law by simply running families out of the school system. We look forward to pursuing a court order to end the bible classes once and for all,” Elliott said.

The school district was represented by the First Liberty Institute. It also issued a statement:

“While the the court's decision did not address, in any way, the merits of the case, we are disappointed by it. Mercer County schools remain committed to following the law as it provides diverse educational opportunities to its students,” said the institute's  general counsel,  Jeremy Dys.