Court, Accepting Magistrate's Ruling, Permits 4th Grader To Distribute Easter Egg Hunt Invites

As previously reported, earlier this month a Florida federal magistrate judge recommended issuance of a preliminary injunction to allow a 4th grade student to distribute invitations to a church-organized Easter egg hunt to fellow classmates. Now, in Gilio v. School Board of Hillsborough County, Florida, (MD FL, Oct. 24, 2012), a federal district judge has adopted the magistrate's report and recommendation and issued a preliminary injunction, concluding:

There is no evidence in this record that distribution of Easter egg hunt invitations during non-instructional time would have caused any interference with school work or discipline at [the school]..... [A]s applied to J.D.'s invitations, enforcement of the contested provisions ... was unconstitutional as view-point based discrimination because enforcement targeted proselytizing messages solely from a religious perspective.

AP reports on the decision.