Supreme Court won’t hear appeal of NJ’s school district ban on religious music

Court won’t hear appeal of religious song ban

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court won’t reconsider whether a New Jersey school district can constitutionally ban celebratory religious music.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Michael Stratechuk. He sued in 2004, saying the South Orange-Maplewood school district’s ban violated the First Amendment’s freedom of worship provision.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld the ban, however. The judges said public school administrations can determine which songs are appropriate according to constitutional guidelines to create a secular “inclusive environment.”

Stratechuk’s children attended Columbia High School and Maplewood Middle School.

The case is Stratechuk v. Board of Education, 09-1184.