SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, July 14, 2020 (Courthouse News): HPI Note: This is a more thorough summary of the hearing than the information published in yesterday’s HPI.
The fight to revive a lawsuit over how California portrays Hinduism in public school lessons largely hinges on whether state educational standards are policies — which can be reviewed by courts — or curriculum, which cannot be. During oral arguments before a Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday, Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder asked how the court can review a curriculum decision given the Ninth Circuit’s 1998 ruling in Monteiro v. The Tempe Union School District, which found a school district cannot be sued for making students read Mark Twain’s classic, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” despite the book’s repeated use of racial slurs that plaintiffs said could harm the self-esteem of young Black students.
Representing California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials (CAPEEM), a group that promotes the accurate portrayal of Hinduism in schools, and three Hindu parents suing on behalf of their children, attorney Glenn Katon argued state-approved educational guidelines are policies the court can review. “When the state Board of Education approves standards and frameworks, there’s no disputing those are policies,” Katon said. Katon’s clients sued the California Board of Education in February 2017, claiming it adopted curriculum guidelines in 2016 that tie negative aspects of the caste system to Hinduism, promote a “completely debunked” Aryan invasion theory regarding the origin of Hinduism and portray other religions as having divine origins while failing to do the same for Hinduism. The complaint alleged violations of the Establishment Clause, due process, free exercise of religion and equal protection under the law.
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