Court Says School May Bar Religious Tiles from Walls

[oracle]

Court Says School May Bar Religious Tiles from Walls (http://www.cnsnews.com/ThisHour.asp#Court%20Says%20School%20May%20Bar%20R eligious%20Tiles%20from%20Walls)

(CNSNews.com) - Add this to the list of religious-themed court rulings handed down this week: A federal appeals court says Columbine High School officials were right to bar Christian messages painted on tiles for the newly-refurbished school. Some families of students shot in April 1999 mentioned God or Jesus on the tiles they painted in memory of their children. The ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said, "By allowing a tile stating 'God is Love,' the (school) district would be obligated to post tiles stating 'God is Hate.'" Another banned tile read, "Jesus Wept." The appeals court said, "We believe that the (school) district's restriction on religious symbols was reasonably related to its legitimate goal of preventing disruptive religious debate on the school's walls." Thursday's ruling overturns a lower court decision, which said the school - in barring the religious-themed tiles - violated the families' right to free speech.


Source (http://www.cnsnews.com/ThisHour.asp#Court%20Says%20School%20May%20Bar%20R eligious%20Tiles%20from%20Walls)

[oracle]

Court Upholds Ban on Religious Tiles (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Columbine-Tiles.html)

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 10:44 p.m. ET


DENVER (AP) -- A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Columbine High School administrators acted properly when they refused to hang ceramic tiles with religious symbols painted by the families of two slain students.

The decision from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling, which had ordered school officials to restore the tiles.

...

School officials refused to hang the religious-themed tiles, saying they violated the Constitution's requirement for separation of church and state.

...


Click here to read more (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Columbine-Tiles.html)

[oracle]

Court Bars Religious Tiles From Columbine (http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-court-columbine.html)

By REUTERS

Filed at 9:56 p.m. ET


DENVER (Reuters) - School officials were within their rights to bar Christian messages that families of victims of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre had painted on tiles as a way to help heal after the massacre, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.

"By allowing a tile stating 'God is Love,' thedistrict would be obligated to post tiles stating 'God is Hate,'" the appellate judges from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote.

...

The Columbine tiles contained messages such as "God is Love" and "4/20/99 Jesus Wept" referring to the date that two students, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, stormed the school and gunned down 12 fellow students and a teacher before killing themselves in the school library.

"We believe that the (school) district's restriction on religious symbols was reasonably related to its legitimate goal of preventing disruptive religious debate on the school's walls," the appellate judges wrote.

The parents of Daniel Rohrbough and Kelly Fleming, two students who were shot to death, painted the messages in remembrance of their children.

...


Click here to read more (http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-court-columbine.html)

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Jesus Christ! Will these never end!

My take:

This is not a Congressional restriction of speech issue, so the school has the residual authority. The school can do what it wants and upset people should go see the school board.

By the same token, the school has the right to require reciting of a pledge, even if Congress made an unconstitutional statement of support of God in the test.

But I am wrong about strict interpretation because of the 1876 case United States v. Cruikshanwhich generalized the First Amendment from a prohibition against Congressional actions, to a prohibition against any government.

If not for these country hick supreme court justices, the whole issue would be up to the locals.

[ThomasIsUnderrated]

I agree. The entire Federal Court system has totally destroyed the meaning of the Establishment Clause. I think the 10th Circuit went too far in saying that the schools would be OBLIGATED to post opposing messages. Instead, they simply could have declared it a school's "right" to choose whether or not to post such things. It shows some favoritism that is neither needed nor appropriate for a federal court.

HOWEVER, the Supreme Court in recent years has said that schools that allow space for clubs after school CANNOT discriminate against bible clubs in particular. That is, if they allow similar clubs with similar goals that are secular, they must allow the religious. Very interesting times we live in.