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• MILLER, S.D. (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union is urging a central South Dakota school district to reverse its decision to allow the distribution of Bibles to fifth-graders.
• The South Dakota chapter of the organization said Monday it wrote to the Miller School District detailing how U.S. courts have prohibited Bible distributions in public schools under a variety of circumstances.
• "Under the Constitution schools cannot intentionally, or unintentionally, advance religion or become too entangled with religious groups," said a copy of the letter provided to the media. "The courts have repeatedly said that schools must also avoid favoring or appearing to favor a religious view, and they may not create any situation in which students feel coerced to participate in religion."
• Board president David Fremark told The Associated Press Monday that he hadn't received the letter. He declined to comment.
• The board recently voted to allow the group Gideons International to distribute pocket-size New Testaments to fifth-graders. The ACLU has previously protested similar efforts across the country.
• The organization said in its letter that schools that allow the distributions venture "onto shaky constitutional ground" and open themselves up to legal challenges.
• Aside from reversing the Bible distribution decision, the ACLU is also asking the board to craft policies on the distribution of non-school materials that meet legal standards.
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• MACY, Neb. (AP) -- A man suspected in a South Dakota shooting has died after being pursued by officers into Nebraska.
• Nebraska State Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins said Monday that 38-year-old Eric Michael Johnson, of Elk Point, South Dakota, shot and killed himself after his pickup was stopped north of Macy on Saturday night.
• South Dakota authorities say a woman was shot about 7:30 p.m. Saturday along Interstate 29 in North Sioux City, South Dakota. The suspect fled north on I-29 and then turned around. He raced south into Iowa and eventually into Nebraska, where he was headed south on U.S. Highway 75 until his pickup was stopped by officers who used stop sticks to puncture the truck's tires.

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