High Court Won't Hear Case Against Religious Songs Ban
The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear the appeal of a man who sued his children's school district over its ban on celebratory religious music.
The case against the ban implemented by the South Orange-Maplewood school district in New Jersey was one of hundreds the high court turned down as it opened its new term on the traditional first Monday in October.
The ban had been upheld by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia last November though the judges acknowledged that religious songs during the holiday season once received no objection.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Since then, the governing principles have been examined and defined with more particularity," the judges wrote in their ruling. And now, school authorities should be the ones who decide "how to best create an inclusive environment in public schools," they suggested.
Attorneys representing Michael Stratechuk and his two children, however, insist that the policy is unconstitutional.
They say the controversial music policy conveys a message of government-sponsored disapproval of and hostility toward religion, which is "impermissible."
"The constitution does not require our public schools to become religion–free zones," argued Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, which filed the lawsuit against the district in 2004. "Forcing students to strip all religious content from music is like asking them to study art history while excluding paintings from the Renaissance because they contain religious subjects."
Since the policy was implemented in 2004, students and student groups have been banned from playing traditional Christmas music at events during the holiday season. According to court documents, printed school materials were also not allowed to include holiday images, including Christmas trees.
Presently, the School District of South Orange and Maplewood serves more than 6,400 students in nine schools, including six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school.
Stratechuk's children attended Columbia High School and Maplewood Middle School.
