Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center v. Vidalia City Schools

A Georgia school district punished Gady Youmans, the director of a Christian released-time education program, for exercising his First Amendment right on Facebook and engaging in religious instruction. For more than a decade, Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center provided optional, free, off-campus religious instruction to students at Vidalia High School. This released-time program continued without problems until Youmans criticized a proposed tax increase on his Facebook page. Soon after, school officials canceled the released-time program, harming the ministry and leaving Vidalia students without any free religious education option. When Youmans asked why, the superintendent of Vidalia City Schools said she and the Vidalia City Board of Education canceled the program because of Youmans’ Facebook posts criticizing the tax increase, thus violating his First Amendment right to free speech.