The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has filed its opening brief in the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, challenging the constitutionality of a New Jersey school district’s policy that banned all religious music in the district’s public schools. The ban was specifically focused on preventing the playing of Christmas music, including simple instrumentals, during the 2004 year-end celebrations in its public schools.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center, commented, “This blatant anti-religious policy is yet another example of the total and militant hostility that many public schools exhibit towards the celebration of Christmas. The Grinch is alive and well in New Jersey.”
The brief was filed on behalf of Michael Stratechuk, who sued on his own and on behalf of his two children, who are students in the New Jersey school district. According to the brief, the school district’s ban on religious music conveys the impermissible, government-sponsored message of disapproval of and hostility toward religion in violation of the Establishment Clause, and it deprives the Stratechuk children the right to receive information and ideas, an inherent corollary of their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and academic freedom.
Robert Muise, the attorney handling the case for the Law Center, noted in the brief: “Christmas is a national holiday, and religious music in the public schools is one of the rich traditions of this season. Those that are hostile to these traditions hide behind the mantle of ‘tolerance,’ only to promote intolerance. Indeed, we learn to understand and respect traditions, customs, and beliefs not by being offended or threatened by the traditions of others, but by understanding the meaning of such traditions and why they have the capacity to inspire.”
The New Jersey school district policy at issue in this case was recently featured in a book, The War On Christmas, by Fox News anchor, John Gibson.
(This update is courtesy of the The Thomas More Law Center.)
The Thomas More Law Center
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center, commented, “This blatant anti-religious policy is yet another example of the total and militant hostility that many public schools exhibit towards the celebration of Christmas. The Grinch is alive and well in New Jersey.”
The brief was filed on behalf of Michael Stratechuk, who sued on his own and on behalf of his two children, who are students in the New Jersey school district. According to the brief, the school district’s ban on religious music conveys the impermissible, government-sponsored message of disapproval of and hostility toward religion in violation of the Establishment Clause, and it deprives the Stratechuk children the right to receive information and ideas, an inherent corollary of their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and academic freedom.
Robert Muise, the attorney handling the case for the Law Center, noted in the brief: “Christmas is a national holiday, and religious music in the public schools is one of the rich traditions of this season. Those that are hostile to these traditions hide behind the mantle of ‘tolerance,’ only to promote intolerance. Indeed, we learn to understand and respect traditions, customs, and beliefs not by being offended or threatened by the traditions of others, but by understanding the meaning of such traditions and why they have the capacity to inspire.”
The New Jersey school district policy at issue in this case was recently featured in a book, The War On Christmas, by Fox News anchor, John Gibson.
(This update is courtesy of the The Thomas More Law Center.)
The Thomas More Law Center
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