A federal lawsuit was filed on Tuesday against the Abington Township (PA) School District and a principal of one of its schools over last year's Halloween activities. According to a report by the AP and a release by the Alliance Defense Fund, students at Willow Hill Elementary School were to wear a costume at school on Halloween if they wanted to take part in the school's parade and party. A 4th grader and his mother objected on Christian religious grounds to promoting Halloween and its pagan elements. So they proposed that the student come to school dressed as Jesus.
However, school Principal Patricia Whitmire objected saying that the costume would violate the school's policy against advocating religion-- even though other students would dress as witches and warlocks. When the student appeared in the Jesus costume, Whitmire told him to remove the "crown of thorns" that was part of his costume and not identify himself as Jesus. The complaint in the case (full text) seeks a declaratory judgment that defendants action violated the student's free speech, free exercise of religion, due process and equal protection rights.
