Clark County School District sued by pro-life students over alleged First Amendment violations

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - The Clark County School District has been hit with a lawsuit after students alleged their First Amendment rights to free speech were violated. Members of the “Students for Life” club say their pro-life views were repeatedly censored.

“I really do believe that high school should be a point in which students are able to grow in their core beliefs and expand and look into different viewpoints,” argued Felipe Avila. Avila, now a college freshman, spent four years at East Career and Technical Academy where he was a leader of the club.

“I consider myself to be a very devoted student in my education and it can be tough when you have an entire team of administrators actively working against you,” Avila contended. Avila claims he and the club were repeatedly censored.

“We had a flyer announcing one of our meetings and the assistant principal at the time, she told us that it was too controversial,” Avila recounted.

The group also tried to put an ad in the student paper where other clubs were allowed to promote meetings. Again, Avila says they were told no.

“The school basically ignored our request and they refused to give anything in writing and what we would see a lot of the time is I would be in class and they would pull me out of class to give me a verbal denial,” Avila shared.

Avila explained he felt targeted for trying to share an unpopular viewpoint.

“It came to the point where I would be pulled out of class numerous times a day just to receive a denial, so this was very disruptive to my educational experience on campus,” Avila asserted.

Avila added, though the “Students for Life” pro-life message was often censored, a pro-choice poster was displayed in a classroom.

“First Amendment rights should be protected regardless of whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, so as much as this is about protecting pro-life speech it is really about for anyone... We are pushing back, and we want to make sure that students have their First Amendment rights protected,” Avila stated.

FOX5 reached out to CCSD for their response to the lawsuit. The district said they do not comment on pending litigation.

Back in 2015, another student also sued the district when she was not allowed to start a pro-life club at her high school.

The new lawsuit against CCSD was filed in federal court on Thursday. You can find the link here.

Copyright 2022 KVVU. All rights reserved.