Last week, the 9th Circuit affirmed a school district's right to ban religious music from graduation ceremonies. Today, a panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in a case involving a school district's refusal to allow religious music to be performed at holiday concerts. Lawyers from the Thomas More Law Center are hoping the court will find the policy unconstitutional and overturn the trial court's decision, but aren't too optimistic after the judges' questioning.
Robert Muise… represents Michael Stratechuk, the district parent who brought the original suit. He gave the following interpretation of the arguments this morning in Philadelphia, by phone from the airport.
“My sense is they weren’t favorably disposed to finding a constitutional violation,” he said, adding:
In trying to read the tea leaves, I had a sense that with the questions they were asking, I think it was pretty clear to anyone sitting there that they would probably affirm the district court … Obviously we’re disappointed.
Should the school district win this round, Mr. Stratechuk would appeal to the United States Supreme Court, he said.
The case is STRATECHUK et al v. BOARD OF EDUCATION, SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT et al. Stay tuned.
