Suit was filed last week in a Georgia federal district court by a Christian ministry– Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center– that has offered released time off-campus religious instruction for students attending Vidalia, Georgia High School. School officials canceled the released time program because of Facebook posts by Sweet Onion’s executive director which criticized a proposed property tax increase for the city’s schools. The complaint (full text) in Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center, Inc. v. Youmans, (SD GA, filed 5/8/2026), alleges that the cancellation violates the 1st and 14th Amendments as well as the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The complaint reads in part:
2…. After learning about the posts, Superintendent Reid secretly investigated the Center and learned an unremarkable fact—the Center, a Christian ministry, provides Christian education. This led her to report to the Board that, in addition to the problems with the Facebook posts, Rev. Youmans’ instruction “reflected a particular interpretation of the Bible” that wasn’t presented in a “neutral or well-balanced manner.” Either way, Defendants punished Rev. Youman, his ministry, and the students at Vidalia High simply because Defendants disagreed with Rev. Youman’s constitutionally protected expression.
3. Under the First Amendment, Rev. Youmans had a clearly established right both to criticize a proposed tax increase and to teach the Bible from his religious perspective. By punishing him and his ministry for his criticism and religious instruction, the Board and Superintendent Reid violated that right….
ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.