ACLU and ADF On Same Side In School Free Exercise Case

The ACLU of New Jersey finds itself, for a change, on the same side of a case as the Alliance Defense Fund. The case (see prior posting) involves the refusal by a Frenchtown, NJ elementary school to allow an eight-year old girl to sing "Awesome God" in an after-school talent show. The New Jersey Express-Times reports that on Monday the ACLU filed a motion to join the case as amicus on behalf of the student, Olivia Turton. ACLU attorney Jennifer Klear said: "Because the school left the choice of songs up to each individual student, no reasonable observer would have believed that the school affirmatively endorsed the content of each student's selection. Therefore it would not constitute a violation of the separation of church and state. Rather, it's an issue of religious freedom." (See ACLU release.)