The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has agreed to pay a $50,000 payment after banning Christian students wearing pro-life apparel.
Students “were required to cover up their pro-life apparel, or leave the buildings, in violation of their free speech rights as protected by the First Amendment,” the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) shared. “Not long ago, the ACLJ achieved its first major victory against the National Archives in one of the cases we filed in support of those pro-lifers. Now, we have achieved our second major victory, this time in the case against the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian).”
Last year, students attended Washington, D.C.’s annual March for Life event and later visited the museum. The museum staff allegedly mocked the students and claimed the area was a “neutral zone” where pro-life statements could not be expressed. Students were then removed from the Smithsonian.
As the students left the building, the employee was “rubbing his hands together in glee as they exited the building,” the legal group wrote.
According to court documents, the Smithsonian will also provide “a private tour to be given by the director of the National Air and Space Museum, personal apologies, and the public dissemination of an ‘after action’ report that was conducted by the Smithsonian following the incident that occurred.”
The museum will “further reiterate via a bulk distribution method to all security officers stationed at all Smithsonian museums open to the public and the National Zoological Park, the current Smithsonian policy regarding the wearing of hats or other types of clothing with messages, including religious and political speech.”
ACLJ noted that the case is one of the “largest reported settlements ever against the federal government in a First Amendment case.”
A federal court has also entered the consent decree in the case.
