NEW YORK (Press Release)–A school district rule barring religious holiday music at holiday assemblies celebrating the same holiday is constitutionally sound, and does not reflect impermissible hostility to religion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held on Tuesday. The opinion quoted approvingly at length from the amicus brief filed by AJCongress asserting just that proposition.
The case arose out of a school district in East Orange and Maplewood New Jersey. Acting on complaints from parents, the school adopted a rule limiting religious music at holiday assemblies, but explicitly allowing such music to be taught in regular music classes. Plaintiffs challenged the rule as manifesting hostility to religion, a claim the court rejected, quoting from the AJCongress brief:
“Were that not the case, almost every government action vis-à-vis religion would fall into one of two columns—pro- or anti-religion, promoting or hostile to—and be subject to establishment Clause attack in either event. That is the logic of Plaintiff’s legal theory; indeed, that theory would, ironically, subject actions that sought to allow more religious content to that same black or white analysis.”
AJCongress’ brief was prepared by Robert B. Hoffman of the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) firm of Eckert, Seamans, Cherin & Mellot, and Marc D. Stern of AJCongress. The brief was also signed by AJCommittee, ADL, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the National Council of Jewish Women.
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Preceding provided by American Jewish Congress