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Santa Rosa County, FL – The ACLU has been hiding a critical secret in its continuing attempts to criminalize prayer in the schools of Santa Rosa County: It has been litigating to salvage an unconstitutional Consent Decree without clients that have a legal interest in its actions. The two anonymous plaintiffs, on whose behalf the ACLU brought the infamous lawsuit that resulted in two contempt trials for prayer, have long since graduated from the school district they sued. But the plaintiffs’ permanent loss of legal standing hasn’t stopped the ACLU and the school district from continuing to defend the Consent Decree that has become irreversibly moot. Having failed in its attempts to fine and jail school officials for praying, the ACLU, aided by the school district, has been opposing the efforts of Christian Educators Association International, represented by Liberty Counsel, to have the Consent Decree declared unconstitutional.

The problem? The Consent Decree at issue became legally moot on the day the ACLU’s clients graduated, less than four weeks after it was issued. Moreover, without clients that have a legal interest in the litigation, the ACLU was legally barred from continuing to litigate against the people of Santa Rosa County. The ACLU and the school district knew this but conspired to hide the fact that the two anonymous plaintiffs graduated. In the Consent Decree they jointly submitted to the court, they inserted provisions purporting to require the court to retain jurisdiction for at least five years, thereby inferring that their anonymous clients were much younger. They also asked the court to conceal the plaintiffs’ identity for another five years, so that no one would know they graduated.

The ACLU’s conspiracy is now unraveling. Liberty Counsel raised the issue of mootness last year and then again in the motion earlier this year. The federal court that entered the Consent Decree, which has literally forced teachers and staff to hide in closets to pray, has now demanded an explanation from the ACLU and the school district as to why it should continue to enforce that Consent Decree. The court noted that the ACLU and the school district “should have advised the court of factual matters affecting this court’s continuing jurisdiction,” which they obviously have failed to do.

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: “The errors in judgment by the ACLU and the school district are stunning. The school district agreed to enter into an unconstitutional Consent Decree that was legally effective for less than one month, then agreed to pay the ACLU a whopping $200,000, and then expended a great deal of additional resources to oppose Liberty Counsel’s intervention and defend the unconstitutional and moot Consent Decree. From the beginning, our position has been that this order should be set aside. We will not rest until that happens. If the school board does not come to its senses and seize the opportunity before it to make things right, the voters of Santa Rosa County will hold them accountable in the next election.”

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