Opinion ID: 803339
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Mosses

Text: Melissa Moss shares several similarities with Tillett’s child. She, too, never took the Spartanburg Bible School course; she was never harassed for refusing to enroll; and she graduated with a higher GPA than any student in her class who had received a grade for the Spartanburg Bible School course. But other factors place both Melissa Moss and Robert Moss in a position different from Tillett and her child with respect to injury and standing. First, Robert Moss did receive the promotional letter from Spartanburg Bible School describing its course of religious education. The letter described the course’s Christian content 14 MOSS v. SPARTANBURG COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT and stated that the course could be taken for elective credit at Spartanburg High School. Robert discussed the letter with Melissa, and both came to the view that it was part of a broader pattern of Christian favoritism on the part of Spartanburg High School and the School District. Second, because the Mosses are not Christians, the School District’s alleged Christian favoritism made them feel like outsiders in their own community. They claim that the letter suggested that the School District was endorsing Evangelical Christianity and disfavoring other religious traditions, including the Jewish tradition to which they belong. They claim that the Spartanburg Bible School course was merely one instance of a broader pattern of Christian favoritism by the School District, which they stated was evidenced by prayers and other Christian references by school-sponsored adults at school events. Feelings of marginalization and exclusion are cognizable forms of injury, particularly in the Establishment Clause context, because one of the core objectives of modern Establishment Clause jurisprudence has been to prevent the State from sending a message to non-adherents of a particular religion that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community. McCreary Cnty. v. ACLU, 545 U.S. 844, 860 (2005) (emphasis added). Finally, Robert and Melissa Moss testified that they changed their conduct in adverse ways as a result of their perceived outsider status. Robert became less involved as a volunteer parent at Spartanburg High School, and Melissa decided to go to a college outside of South Carolina because, in part, she felt excluded in her home community. For purposes of standing, these change[s in] personal conduct on account of allegedly unlawful conduct are indicative of injury. Suhre, 131 F.3d at 1087-88; see also Friends of Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs., Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 184-85 (2000). For these reasons, we conclude that Robert and Melissa Moss have standing to bring this action. MOSS v. SPARTANBURG COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT 15