Judge halts Bible giveaway at Mo. School

法官制止密苏里学校发放《圣经》

A federal judge ordered a small-town school to suspend a program that gives free Bibles to students, saying it improperly promotes Christianity. U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Perry also scolded school officials for continuing the program after warnings that it violated the Constitution.

美国联邦法官下令一家密苏里州的学校推迟其免费给学生发放《圣经》的计划，他认为该计划在非法推广基督教。美国联邦地方法院法官凯特林·佩里还批评学校官员在收到该计划涉嫌违宪的警告后还继续执行这一计划。

South Iron Elementary in Annapolis, a town of 300 in southeastern Missouri, has quietly allowed Gideons International to hand out Bibles to fifth-graders for years. After concerns were raised last year, the then-superintendent consulted with the district's attorneys and insurance company and recommended that the handouts stop, but the school board voted to continue them.

南铁是密苏里州东南部300个镇中的一个。位于安纳波利斯南铁小学数年以来一直不公开地允许国际基甸组织给五年级的学生发放《圣经》。在去年这一事件受到关注后，当时的负责人与地区法院和保险公司进行协商，并建议停止发放《圣经》，但校务委员会投票决定继续执行这一计划。

Acting on behalf of two sets of parents from the district, the American Civil Liberties Union sued in February in federal court in St. Louis.

今年1月，美国公民自由联盟代表该地区的两个家庭的父母到圣路易斯联邦法院提出上诉。

“The defendants were repeatedly told that their actions violated the Constitution, but they chose not to heed those cautions,”Perry wrote in the preliminary injunction issued Wednesday.

“被告被再三告知其行为违反了宪法，但他们却置若罔闻。”佩里在周三发表的初步禁令中写道。

A final ruling is not expected for months.

最终的裁决将可能拖到在数月以后。

Eastern Missouri ACLU legal director Anthony Rothert said the injunction was“a victory for parents who want to direct the religious upbringing of their children without interference from public schools.”

东密苏里州美国公民自由联盟法务总监安东尼·罗赫特表示禁令是“那些希望孩子们在没有公立学校干涉下接受宗教的父母们的胜利”。

Erik Stanley - an attorney for Liberty Counsel, part of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., which represented the school district - called the ruling unconstitutional and said it would continue to fight the case.

代表学校的埃瑞克·斯坦利是来自杰里·福尔韦尔自由大学自由委员会的一名律师，他认为裁决违背了宪法，并坚持继续把官司打到底。

Gideons, based in Nashville, Tenn., distributes more than 63 million pocket-sized Bibles each year in hotels, prisons, hospitals and schools worldwide, according to the organization's Web site. A spokesman for the organization declined to comment.

基甸组织的官方网站数据显示，位于田纳西州纳什维尔的基甸组织每年向全球的旅馆、监狱、医院和学校派发超过63，000，000册的袖珍《圣经》。该组织的发言人拒绝对此事发表意见。（外语教育网 王郅译）