Texas Attorney General's Office Trying to Use Student Prayer Room to Foment anti-Muslim Hysteria

When Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has a hammer, everything looks like a nail.Paxton has made a career of complaining about what he calls discrimination against Christians in Texas schools, going so far as to sue the Killeen school district after a middle school asked a teacher to remove a homemade Charlie Brown poster with a religious quote. Paxton has also opposed atheists seeking to halt prayers before public meetings.Last week, Paxton's office took an unwarranted whack at Frisco ISD, suggesting that school officials allow special treatment of Muslim students who gather to pray in an empty classroom at Liberty High School. What an embarrassing display of political grandstanding. In a letter to the school district, Deputy Attorney General Andrew Leonie wrote that it appears that students at the high school are "being treated differently based on their religious beliefs," a violation of the First Amendment. Leonie, however, offered no evidence of unequal treatment and apparently made the public accusation without first even contacting the school district. Gov. Greg Abbott then tweeted Leonie's letter, noting that the attorney general was "looking into the Public School Prayer Room issue many of you have questioned." This editorial board asked the attorney general's office Monday for an explanation. No response.   Continue reading...