"This is a very important victory for our client and the First Amendment," said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, one of two ACLJ attorneys who represented the student before the school board. "To punish a student for ending a broadcast with the words 'God Bless' was an outrageous and unbelievable over reaction by school officials. We're delighted that the school board has revoked the suspension and permitted our client to return to the broadcast immediately. At the same time, we will monitor the situation closely to ensure that our client is not punished in the future for exercising his constitutional rights."

The ACLJ represents James Lord - a senior at Dupo High School in Dupo, Illinois - who was suspended for one month from his daily news broadcast after signing off his December 17th broadcast with the sentence: "Have a safe and happy holiday, and God Bless."

Lord said the school principal told him that the use of the words "God Bless" was inappropriate and suspended him from the broadcast for one month - a suspension that was due to expire on February 1st. Lord contacted the ACLJ for assistance in the case. Attorneys then prepared a legal memorandum outlining the law regarding the First Amendment rights of students. At a meeting last night, Lord and ACLJ attorneys appealed to the school board to revoke the suspension and permit Lord to return to his broadcast immediately. The school board voted unanimously to do just that. At the same time, school officials said they will permit Lord to use the phrase "God Bless" on the broadcast in the future.

"We want to ensure that James Lord and other students are not censored when it comes to exercising their First Amendment rights in the student broadcast," said Manion. "To punish students for using the phrase 'God Bless' on-air constitutes a violation of their constitutional rights and we are prepared to take whatever legal action is necessary to protect those students and ensure that their constitutional rights are protected."

Lord co-anchors a daily news broadcast on the closed circuit television system at Dupo High School and was scheduled to return to the broadcast today.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law. The ACLJ is based in Washington, D.C. and its web address is www.aclj.org.