In a ruling that says the St. Johns County School District in Florida violated the First Amendment, a federal judge has banned an elementary school in St. Augustine from having children sing a country song, "In God We Still Trust," at a school assembly.
by Chad Smith
Excerpted from the St. Augustine Record
A federal judge ruled Wednesday the St. Johns County School District, a school principal and two teachers violated two students' First Amendment rights by making them choose between practicing what he called a "proselytizing" and "sectarian" country music song for an end-of-the-year assembly or sitting out the entire performance.
For the past few months students at The Webster School had practiced "In God We Still Trust," a song released in 2005 by Diamond Rio, before two parents and their third-graders filed a lawsuit in protest last month.
In their suit, they asked the court to grant them a temporary injunction to prevent the song from being performed.
In a hearing on the injunction last week, a judge heard from both sides.
Defense attorneys said the song had been removed from the program after parents first complained. Even if it hadn't been, they argued, past court rulings on religious songs in schools deemed it appropriate.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, who were identified only by their initials to protect the identities of the children, countered that "In God We Still Trust" did not compare to the academically studied music the defense referred to. Further, they said, the song was a clear violation of the doctrine of separation of church and state, a canon the song ironically condemned.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger ruled in the plaintiffs' favor.
"In God We Still Trust" is a "song overtly espousing a specific religious viewpoint and attacking of those who do not share in the same belief," Schlesinger wrote in a 24-page decision. Read the full story here.