Nov 12, 2003 / 22:00 pm
The Thomas More Law Centre is taking the City of New York and some of its public school officials to court after the City imposed a total ban on Christmas Nativity displays in its public schools. The hearing on the Law Center's motion to temporarily restrain the City from enforcing this ban will take place today in a federal court in Brooklyn.
In its brief, New York argues that the Nativity scene does not depict the historical event of the birth of Jesus and that this event is not the basis for the celebration of Christmas.
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed the federal civil lawsuit last year on behalf of Roman Catholic Andrea Skoros and her two children, who are both elementary school students in New York.
The Law Centre has pointed out that while New York's policy prohibits public school displays of Christmas Nativity scenes, it encourages the display of the Jewish Menorah and the Islamic star and crescent during their respective holidays.