NJ school district sued over graduation ceremony in church - Newsday.com
NJ school district sued over graduation ceremony in church - Newsday.com:
RENTON, N.J. -- A high school graduation ceremony held last year in a Baptist church has sparked a religious freedom lawsuit against the largest public school district in the state.
The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday that it had filed a lawsuit against Newark public schools for violating the rights of a Muslim high school senior whose religious beliefs restricted him from attending his own graduation.
Bilal Shareef had to forgo a graduation ceremony from West Side High School in Newark because his own religion forbade him from entering a building with religious images, the civil liberties group said.
The New Jersey ACLU argues that the situation violated provisions in the state constitution prohibiting public institutions from showing a preference for certain religious sects over others; compelling people to attend a place of worship; and segregating or discriminating against public school students because of their religious principles.
"Schools should not sponsor activities that exclude some students from participation on the basis of religious belief," said ACLU-NJ's legal director, Ed Barocas, who is representing Shareef and his father.
Associated Press attempts to reach Newark school officials for comment were unsuccessful on Wednesday.
The lawsuit in state Superior Court in Essex County, which seeks to forbid further graduation ceremonies in places of worship, joins a long line of legal cases in the U.S. in recent decades that challenged practices in which public schools have become intertwined with religion.
Traditional practices such as prayer at graduation ceremonies and extracurricular activities, have been questioned.
At least one constitutional law expert cautioned that public institutions sometimes need to use space at religious institutions, such as when polling places are set up in church basements.
"If the government rents space, I don't think anything forbids it from renting space in a church," said Harvard Law School professor Charles Fried, who added that covering up religious symbols in the church during graduation would also help.
With about 43,000 students, the urban district is the state's largest. It's also among 31 districts in the state's neediest areas that get special financial aid.
The ACLU-NJ said it first complained about a West Side High School graduation at New Hope Baptist Church in 2005, but agreed not to sue when the district's legal director made assurances that the school district would avoid holding a graduation at a religious location again.
But in 2006, graduation was again held at New Hope. And the principal at the time even told graduating students that they would get two additional tickets for family and friends to go to the graduation, provided they also attended a separate religious baccalaureate ceremony at the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Sacred Heart, according to the civil liberties group.
Besides seeking to prevent future graduation ceremonies in religious locations, the ACLU-NJ wants to prevent future school promotions of baccalaureate ceremonies. It is also seeking an award of damages for the Shareefs.
"Insha' Allah (God-willing), this lawsuit will ensure that students from all religious backgrounds will have their rights and religious beliefs respected," Ahmad Shareef, the graduate's father, said in statement released by the ACLU-NJ.