DOJ Files Brief Supporting Christian Student's Religious Liberty Lawsuit
by Jim Brown
February 11, 2005
(AgapePress) - The United States Department of Justice is weighing in on a case of anti-Christian censorship at a Michigan public school.Last June the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) sued the Saginaw School District on behalf of Joel Curry, a student at Handley School. School officials had barred Curry from attaching a religious message to the candy cane Christmas ornaments he had created for distribution to classmates as part of a classroom project. ADF contends the district impinged upon the child's First Amendment freedoms by prohibiting his religious expression.
Attached to Curry's homemade ornaments was a message explaining a popular account of the religious origin of the candy cane. Officials at the school made him remove the messages from the Christmas ornaments before he was allowed to distribute them. The ADF attorneys argue that this censorship of the student's message clearly violated his constitutional rights.
Now the U.S. Justice Department has written a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Curry. ADF attorney Josh Carden says the move is noteworthy because the federal agency rarely gets involved in a private or constitutional lawsuit. "The fact that they have chosen to intervene on the student's behalf in this," he remarks, "is a very telling indicator that this case is seen as having some national implications for students and their right to communicate their religious viewpoint while they're at school."
Carden also believes the DOJ's decision to intervene is a positive indicator of the strength of Joel Curry's legal position. "The Justice Department wants to be involved in good cases, in significant cases," he says, "and there's starting to be a realization across the board that people -- especially of the Christian faith -- are being singled out for special disfavor, and frequently in the school setting."
The school district is arguing that the religious message on Curry's ornaments violates the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause, commonly known as the "separation of church and state." Both parties in the case have filed cross motions for summary judgment.
ADF senior legal counsel Jeff Shafer insists that there is no violation of the so-called separation of church and state in the case of Curry v. Saginaw School District. He says his legal team looks forward to reading the DOJ brief in support of Joel Curry's religious liberties.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
