(no subject)

[Douglas Laycock]

  I don't know the Peck case.  But there are cases holding that
religious viewpoints cannot be excluded from genuine free speech
opportunities.  Widmar v. Vincent (1981); Lamb's Chapel v. Center
Moriches Union Free School District (1993); Rosenberger v. Rector of
Univ. of Virginia (1995); Pinette v. Capital Square Board (1995);
Good News Club v. Milford Central School District (2001). 

  None of those involve a captive audience, and your claim is
stronger if Career Day is a sort of fair with parents and
grandparents from different careers spread around the gym; the school
has more of an argument if each parent or grandparent makes a
presentation to the class.  But I would think that it is not a very
strong argument unless religion comes to dominate the forum.

  Quoting Richard James <Rjames at udel.edu>:

> In response to the March 26 posting below (although it?s not really
a
> response, because I was the ?correspondent?) it might also be the 
> case that Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah 508 
> U.S. 520, 530 (1993) has more bearing on the issue, as the decision

> holds that: "The first amendment forbids an official purpose to 
> disapprove of...religion in general." My goal is to try to provide
a
> constructive response to the school that will enable them to stay
out
> of hot water in the future by mitigating this kind of knee-jerk 
> response to the issue at hand.
>
>> Can a school restrict participation in school->sponsored "career 
>> day"type events due to concerns >about "chuch/state separation"?
Our
>> daughter had intended >to invite her grandmother, a minister, to a

>> firstgrade >career day to which the school had issued a broad 
>> >invitation. Today I was told by the principal that the
> attendance
>> of a minister would be a violation of >separation. I think that 
>> schools are understandable hyper->cautious about this issue, but
do
>> you think that Peck v. >Baldwinsville has any bearing on this? It 
>> might be thought >that participation by student's invitees is an 
>> aspect of >free speech and that therefore the school is engaged
> in
>> 'viewpoint discrimination' of the
>> kind identified in Peck.
>
>
> Richard James
>

Douglas Laycock
Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
625 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1215
  734-647-9713
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