Oklahoma court dismisses suit over bible mandate

The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed on Nov. 24 a lawsuit filed against former state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education over a bible-teaching mandate issued in June 2024 by Walters. The Freedom From Religion Foundation was one of the groups representing the plaintiffs.

In the order, the court officially accepted original jurisdiction over the case, known as Walke v. Walters, then said because new Superintendent Lindel Fields has dropped the mandate and an attempt by the state agency to spend $6 million to purchase bibles for Oklahoma classrooms using taxpayer money, “the court finds that the matter should be dismissed as moot.”

A group of attorneys representing the plaintiffs — more than 30 Oklahomans — issued a joint statement. The attorneys were from FFRF, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Oklahoma Foundation, and Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.

“We are pleased that Superintendent Fields abandoned former Superintendent Walters’ attempts to incorporate the bible into the public-school curriculum, to place bibles in classrooms, and to buy bibles and biblical-instructional materials with state tax dollars and distribute them to public schools,” the joint statement said. “We are further pleased with the statement by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in today’s order confirming that Fields has “resci[nded] and nullifi[ed]” these Walters policies. Fields’ actions and the Supreme Court’s order mean that Oklahoma families and students – not politicians – will get to decide if, when and how to engage with the bible.”