Cheerleaders cheered by ruling on signs

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KOUNTZE, Texas, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A Texas district judge has allowed cheerleaders at a small East Texas high school to display Christian religious messages at their school's football games.

State District Judge Steve Thomas of Hardin County Thursday issued a temporary injunction in favor of cheerleaders at Kountze High School, CNN reported.

He set a hearing on the injunction for June 24, effectively allowing the use of the cheerleader's run-through signs through the end of the school year.

The signs bearing scripture from the Bible were used in the first three home games this fall before the school board told the principal the cheerleaders had to stop using the verses.

The school board acted after receiving a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation that someone in the community had complained that the religious nature of the signs made them illegal.

Attorney General Greg Abbott Wednesday sided with the cheerleaders, accusing the foundation of using "menacing and misleading intimidation tactics," the Houston Chronicle reported.

Last week, Gov. Rick Perry expressed his support for the cheerleaders in a Skype message.

Randall Kallinen, the attorney for the foundation, said the judge's ruling was "purely a political decision" and predicted the outcome would have been different if the case was filed in federal court.