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The settlement approved by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew
Kennelly requires the Chicago Board of Education and the New
York-based David Lynch Foundation to pay $100,000 to the lead
plaintiff and from $3,000 to $9,500 each to the remaining
students who filed claims.
Attorney John Mauck, partner at Mauck & Baker, said the
so-called “Quiet Time” program was a horrendous violation of
religious freedom.
“The David Lynch Foundation, which promotes what they call
‘Transcendental Meditation,’ which is really totally Hindu
worship and Hindu meditation, worked its way into the Chicago
schools for a number of years,” Mauch explained.
Mauck said students were coerced to go through a Hindu
initiation ceremony with offerings to a guru and repeat mantras
with the names of Hindu deities.
“Another student was told, ‘If you don’t kneel before the
picture of the guru during your initiation ceremony, it could
affect your eligibility on the girls basketball team,’” Mauck
related.
Mauck said students were instructed not to tell their parents,
especially if the parents were religious.
“So parents were kept in the dark. Of course, some students
didn’t obey that restriction and the parents eventually found
out,” Mauck said.
Mauck said parents got involved, and the school board eventually
dropped the program when the Transcendental Meditation group
refused to stop holding the Hindu initiation ceremony.
Mauck said the court certified 773 students who had been
required to participate in the program. More than 200 filed
claims, and Mauck said those students are receiving checks
between $3,000 and $9,400 each.
Citing the recent Mahmoud v. Taylor decision, Mauck said the
U.S. Supreme Court has reemphasized parental control over
religious education of students.
“The parents have an opt-out, and they need to be informed if
there are religiously-controversial teachings going on,” Mauck
explained.
Mauck said he was not aware of similar cases in Illinois, but
there have been cases in California, Massachusetts, New York and
“a lot in New Jersey.”
Mauck said Transcendental Meditation is out of Chicago schools,
but parents should find out if similar programs are happening in
their schools.
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