Jessica Ahlquist (born June 21, 1995) is an American activist and public speaker who filed a lawsuit in 2012 against
Cranston High School West
Cranston High School West (often called West, Cranston West or abbreviated as CHSW) is a public high school located in Cranston, Rhode Island, United States.
The school comprises five buildings; one of these buildings is the Cranston Area Career a ...
, where she was a student, to remove a religious prayer from its auditorium. The suit, ''
Ahlquist v. Cranston'', was filed with the assistance of the
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
, and was ultimately decided in Ahlquist's favor. During the lawsuit, Ahlquist received
hate mail
Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwi ...
and was verbally attacked by her peers, media outlets, and online. She received death threats, and required police escorts to and from classes.
On the day following the ruling,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
State Representative
Peter G. Palumbo spoke on a local radio show and referred to Ahlquist as "an evil little thing".
Since the lawsuit, Ahlquist has received a variety of media attention, and she has been an invited speaker at a number of events, including the
Reason Rally, the Texas Freethought Convention and
Skepticon 5.
Two high school students from other states have described their objections to
school prayer as inspired by her activism. She has received a number of awards, including the ''2011 Thomas Jefferson Youth Activist'' and the
American Humanist Association's 2012 Humanist Pioneer Award.
Early life
Jessica Ahlquist was born in 1995, and lives in
Cranston, Rhode Island
Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second largest in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island ...
. She is the oldest of four children and the daughter of a
firefighter and
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
.
[ Ahlquist's family was religious, and she had been raised as a Catholic, but after her mother fell ill, she began to identify as an atheist. She describes herself as "a nerd" who loves Harry Potter and ]Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
. When asked if the court case inspired her to get into law, she responded that law might be her future.
Ahlquist is the niece of writer, artist and humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "human ...
Steve Ahlquist.
Lawsuit
In July 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
(ACLU) sent a letter to the school superintendent on behalf of an unnamed parent who complained about a banner at the school which contained a "school prayer." After reading about the complaint, Ahlquist decided to sit in on the school board meetings. She also created a Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
page to raise support for the cause. At an August 2010 meeting of the Cranston School Committee, a subcommittee was asked to make recommendations about the disposition of the banner; Ahlquist attended the public meetings of the subcommittee in November 2010 and February 2011. At the end of the November meeting, out of safety concerns, a police escort was provided for Ahlquist and one other person who spoke in favor of the banner's removal. At a contentious meeting of the full committee, she argued the case for the removal of the banner and a similar display at Bain Middle School. The committee voted 4-3 in favor of keeping the banner in place, despite a budget deficit and the threat of an ACLU lawsuit.
A lawsuit was filed in April 2011, with Ahlquist as the plaintiff. The Cranston School Committee had made defense arrangements with Joseph V. Cavanagh, Jr. and The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Becket Law (formerly the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty) is a non-profit public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C., that describes its mission as "defending the freedom of religion of people of all faiths." Becket promotes accommoda ...
which represented them without charge.
In the January 11, 2012 '' Ahlquist v. Cranston'' ruling, District Court Judge Ronald R. Lagueux of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island (in case citations, D.R.I.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Rhode Island. The District Court was created in 1790 when Rhode Island ratified th ...
ruled that a "School Prayer" banner posted in Cranston High School West
Cranston High School West (often called West, Cranston West or abbreviated as CHSW) is a public high school located in Cranston, Rhode Island, United States.
The school comprises five buildings; one of these buildings is the Cranston Area Career a ...
was a violation of the Establishment Clause
In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...
of the United States Constitution, in part based on the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
's earlier rulings in ''Lemon v. Kurtzman
''Lemon v. Kurtzman'', 403 U.S. 602 (1971), was a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States.. The court ruled in an 8–0 decision that Pennsylvania's Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act (represented through David Kurtz ...
'' (1971), ''Lynch v. Donnelly
''Lynch v. Donnelly'', 465 U.S. 668 (1984), was a United States Supreme Court case challenging the legality of Christmas decorations on town property.
Background
Pawtucket, Rhode Island's annual Christmas display in the city's shopping district, c ...
'' (1984), and ''Lee v. Weisman
''Lee v. Weisman'', 505 U.S. 577 (1992), was a United States Supreme Court decision regarding school prayer. It was the first major school prayer case decided by the Rehnquist Court. It held that schools may not sponsor clerics to conduct even non- ...
'' (1992), and ordered its removal.
On February 16, 2012, the Cranston School Committee decided not to appeal by a 5-2 vote. The banner was removed, intact, during the first weekend in March, and the school and city agreed to pay the ACLU $150,000 in legal fees.
Threats
During the lawsuit, Ahlquist received hatemail and was verbally attacked by her peers, media outlets, and online. She received death threats, and required police escorts to and from classes. An unnamed student was disciplined by the school because of threats.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization, which advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many ...
ordered flowers to be delivered to Ahlquist during the trial, but two local florists refused delivery. The group has filed a complaint with Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights and given Ahlquist $13,000 from support and scholarship funds.[
On the day following the ruling, Rhode Island State Representative Peter G. Palumbo spoke on a local radio show and referred to Ahlquist as "an evil little thing".][ In response, her supporters began selling T-shirts with the words "Evil little thing" on the front. They committed the proceeds to a college education fund established for her. The fund raised over $62,000 which was presented to her at the Reason Rally on March 24, 2012, where she was an invited speaker.] Ahlquist was also awarded the Humanist Pioneer Award from the American Humanist Association. In 2013, she received a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award is an award created in honor of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards were established in 1979 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort ...
in the education category. Religious leaders from the Rhode Island State Council of Churches rallied to defend Ahlquist and condemn the language used to describe her.
After the lawsuit
Ahlquist's uncle, humanist writer/artist Steve Ahlquist, conducted an hour-long interview with Ahlquist on March 31, 2011.
Several months after the case was closed, in April 2012, Ahlquist received threatening letters in the mail from individuals describing themselves as "crusaders". Police were still investigating as of 2012.
Ahlquist was an invited speaker at a number of events in 2012, spanning at least five US states and international media. She speaks at approximately one venue each month, including the Reason Rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
on March 24, 2012, the largest gathering of atheists in history, alongside Richard Dawkins, Adam Savage
Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and fabricator, actor, educator, and television personality and producer, best known as the former co-host (with Jamie Hyneman) of the Discovery Channel televisi ...
, Eddie Izzard
Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime.
Izzard's stand- ...
, Paul Provenza, PZ Myers
Paul Zachary Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biologist who founded and writes the ''Pharyngula'' science-blog. He is associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) , Dan Barker
Daniel Edwin Barker (born June 25, 1949) is an American atheist activist and musician who served as an evangelical Christian preacher and composer for 19 years but left Christianity in 1984. He and his wife Annie Laurie Gaylor are the current ...
and James Randi
James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skepticism, scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific cla ...
.[ There, she was introduced as the ]Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= ’an daÊk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...
of secularism, and presented a check for the proceeds from her T-shirt sales. She also spoke at the Texas Freethought Convention in 2012. Ahlquist is a frequent and popular guest on ''Freethought RI'', a weekly radio show produced by the ''RI Atheist Society''. On June 25, 2011 she was a speaker at Center for Inquiry transnational in Amherst, New York
Amherst () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. Amherst is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census.
The second ...
and on February 6, 2012 in Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, Arizona, professor Richard Dawkins specifically discussed the threats Jessica Ahlquist had been receiving. On August 16, 2011, she finished first place among the ''2011 Best High School Individual Activist Award Winners'', organized by the Secular Student Alliance.
On February 21, 2012, Ahlquist was interviewed live on CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
about the Cranston case. Ahlquist spoke at ''Moving Secularism Forward: Council for Secular Humanism Conference 2012'', (March 1–4, 2012) in Orlando, Florida.
Ahlquist has spoken out for LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term ...
issues in conjunction with Marriage Equality Rhode Island, a group dedicated to establishing same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
as the law in her state. She has begun to work with the Secular Student Alliance
The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) is an American educational nonprofit organization whose purpose is to educate high school and college students about the value of scientific reason and the intellectual basis of secularism in its atheistic an ...
to form a humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "human ...
/ atheist student group in her school.
Awards and accolades
John Figdor
John Figdor is a former Humanist Chaplain at Stanford University where he organizes events and programs for both students and community members of the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the first Humanist Chaplain on the West Coast serving a universi ...
of the Secular Student Alliance
The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) is an American educational nonprofit organization whose purpose is to educate high school and college students about the value of scientific reason and the intellectual basis of secularism in its atheistic an ...
stated "she's a role model to so many young people". JT Eberhard of the same organisation called for nominating Ahlquist for the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal.
On April 26, 2012, Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola discussed the hate mail at Ahlquist's address in ''TYTUniversity'', a spin-off from The Young Turks
''The Young Turks'' (TYT) is an American progressive news commentary show on YouTube that additionally appears on selected television channels. TYT serves as the flagship program of the TYT Network, a multi-channel network of associated web s ...
.
Awards
* On October 8, 2011, the Freedom From Religion Foundation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization, which advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many ...
named her the ''2011 Thomas Jefferson Youth Activist''.
* On June 9, 2012, the American Humanist Association honored Ahlquist with the 2012 Humanist Pioneer Award, which was presented to her at the 71st annual American Humanist Association conference in .
* On August 19, 2012, Ahlquist was given the Judge George Alexander Teitz Award, for "commitment to the ideals of religious and ethnic tolerance and freedom" by the Touro Synagogue
The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel ( he, קהל קדוש ישועת ישר×ל) is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States, the only surviving s ...
Foundation in Newport, Rhode Island.
* On May 22, 2013, Ahlquist was honored with the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award is an award created in honor of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards were established in 1979 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort ...
in the Education category.
References
External links
* Stedman, Chris (January 5, 2014)
"Jessica Ahlquist looks back — and ahead — 2 years after Ahlquist v. Cranston"
Religion News Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlquist, Jessica
1995 births
Living people
21st-century atheists
American atheism activists
American secularists
Humanists
Discrimination against atheists
Former Roman Catholics
People from Cranston, Rhode Island
American LGBT rights activists
Religion and education