Ninth Circuit: 1, Supernintendo Whitehall: 0

The 9th Circuit recently upheld a lower court’s decision to allow a school superintendent to ban the playing of Ave Maria at graduation.  Read the full opinion here.

I think this one is pretty cut and dry: the court was right, the superintendent was wrong.

The suit was filed by a student claiming that the ban violated her first amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.  Pretty flimsy arguments.

No one has the right to play any song at a graduation ceremony.  What if another student wanted to interrupt the ceremony and play Freebird?  Pretty sure the school would be right to either silence him or kick him out.

Further, the freedom of religion isn’t attacked by this decision.  All students are still allowed to be Christian, despite Christian music being banned from a secular school ceremony.  Christianity doesn’t require you to hear Ave Maria at your high school graduation.  Jesus didn’t even graduate from high school.

I think the superintendent was wrong in banning the song.  While it has a religious origin, it’s not an overtly religious song.  A huge amount of classical music has religious origins, but the songs have merged into the collective culture to such a degree that without some specifically Christian context, they are simply irreligious music.

Ultimately the question for the court was not must the superintendent ban the song, but can he?  And the answer is most certainly yes.  …And then the school board can dump his retarded ass on unemployment street.