The Supreme Court has denied review of a case involving religious music at high school graduation ceremonies. An Everett, Wash., high school had banished all religious music from school programs beginning 2006 because a previous performance “drew complaints from some students and residents.”
In dissent, Judge Alito explained the problems with an overly broad interpretation of the 9th Circuit’s decision in the school’s favo:
School administrators in some communities may choose to avoid ‘controversy’ by banishing all musical pieces with ‘religious connotations…
The appeals court ruling might be extended beyond the context of religious music at graduation and lead to “wide-ranging censorship of student speech that expresses controversial ideas…
The plaintiff’s lawyer’s had argued along similar lines:
…the appellate [court] ruling represented “political correctness run amok.”
As with an institution involving liberals, especially those from the NEA, any ruling along liberal lines will be used to justify unnecessary restrictions on free speech, especially any that is even remotely religious or conservative.
The only good thing about this ruling:
[This] ruling … is binding on federal courts in the [Ninth] circuit’s nine states, which include California.
The rest of the nation is still somewhat safe from this ridiculous ruling. Had the Supreme Court accepted the case and then affirmed the circuit decision, we’d have the NEA banning religious performances in schools across the country.
