Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2009 / 05:49 am
Arguments are set to begin in a federal appeal seeking to reverse a New Jersey school district’s policy that banned the performance of religious music in the district’s public schools. Opponents of the ban claim it singles out Christian traditions for disapproval and hostility.
Robert Muise, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center, will argue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia on September 14, the Law Center reports.
Muise noted that Christmas is a national holiday and described religious music in the public schools as “one of the rich traditions of this season.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Michael Stratechuk, who sued on his own and on behalf of his two children, who are students in the South Orange-Maplewood School District in New Jersey. The suit alleges that the ban is an impermissible government-sponsored message of disapproval of and hostility towards religion, violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.