Ruling that Christian message 'offensive' appealed to Supreme Court

A court ruling that allowed school officials to ban a Christmastime Christian message as "offensive" is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Alliance Defense Fund.

"The First Amendment exists to protect private speakers, not to enable religious discrimination by government officials," said Jeff Shafer, senior legal counsel for the ADF. "The court of appeals' unprecedented classification of student religious speech as an 'offense' worthy of censorship should be reversed."

The case began in 2003 when Joel Curry, a fifth-grade student at Handley School in Saginaw, Mich., participated in a classroom project in which students were given guidelines to develop a product and "sell" it during a "Classroom City" event just before Christmas.

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His product was a candy cane made from pipe cleaners with the following message attached:

The Meaning of the Candy Cane

Hard candy: Reminds us that Jesus is like a "rock," strong and dependable.

The color Red: Is for God's love that sent Jesus to give his life for us on the cross.

The Stripes: Remind us of Jesus' suffering-his crown of thorns, the wounds in his hands and feet; and the cross on which he died.

Peppermint Flavor: Is like the gift of spices from the wise men.

White Candy: Stands for Jesus as the holy, sinless Son of God.

Cane: Is like a staff used by shepherds in caring for sheep. Jesus leads us and watches over us when we Trust him.

School officials determined the message was "offensive" and allowed Curry to continue participating in the activity only if he censored the message.

A lawsuit against the school district followed and a short time later, the U.S. Department of Justice expressed its support for Curry's position.

It argued "the boy's speech was barred solely because it was religious, in violation of the Free Speech Clause."

"The school has defended its actions on the ground that it sought to avoid disruption and to avoid a violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution," the federal government said. "The Civil Rights Division brief argues that the school's actions discriminated against the boy's speech in violation of the free speech clause, and that the school's Establishment Clause defense was meritless."

In 2006, a federal judge ruled the principal had violated Curry's First Amendment rights. However, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit recently decided otherwise.

"Automatically classifying religious speech as offensive runs counter to settled constitutional precedent," said the ADF's Shafer. "We hope the Supreme Court will agree to review Joel's case and resolve this important question, which could potentially affect thousands of public school students."

The writ of certiorari asks the high court to consider whether school officials simply can categorize religious expression as "offensive" and therefore ban it.

In the opinion issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, Judge David Lawson wrote, "The exercise and its objectives did not preclude incorporating religion. There is no evidence that a child's use of a religious product would prevent other students from learning what the assignment was designed to teach. The concern that the religious message on Joel's product would interfere with the pedagogical exercise is not a legitimate basis on which to restrict his speech."

The ADF petition to the Supreme Court asks:

"Did the 6th Circuit err by holding that a public elementary school student's religious speech presented in response to, and in compliance with, a class assignment, may be categorized as per se 'offensive' because it is religious, and censored for that reason?"

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