On June 7, 2004, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled in favor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and its plaintiffs, challenging 51 years of unlawful bible instruction in Rhea County (Dayton, Tenn.) public schools.
Bible students at William Jennings Bryan college were brought into the public schools for 51 years to give religious instruction every week. FFRF sent an official letter of complaint on Sept. 27, 2000, to the school superintendent. It requested that the schools stop teaching and endorsing Christian religious beliefs and practices. As a result of the letter, the Rhea County Commission on October 17, 2000, adopted a unanimous resolution approving the bible classes. On February 8, 2002, the District Court ruled in favor of FFRF and its plainitffs. This ruling was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The case was John Doe, Mary Roe, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Sue Porter, Superintendent of the Rhea County School District, Rhea County Board of Education, Jimmy Wilkey, County Executive for Rhea County, Tennessee, 02-5316/5823, June 7, 2004.
