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Thomas More Law Center Challenges New Jersey District's Total
Ban on Christmas Music In Federal Appellate Court ANN ARBOR, MI — The Thomas More Law Center, a national
public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has filed
its opening brief in the U.S. 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 School
District’s ban was specifically focused on preventing the
playing of Christmas music, including simple instrumentals, during
the 2004 year-end celebrations in its public schools. 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. http://www.thomasmore.org/news.html?NewsID=390 |