High court to decide on Columbine memorial case
From William Mears
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A free-speech dispute stemming from the Columbine school shootings will be the subject of consideration before the U.S. Supreme Court in a private Friday session.
Justices will be asked to consider whether school officials violated the First Amendment when they excluded religious designs and expressions from a display of tiles prompted by the April 1999 shootings.
At issue is whether religious messages and designs in a decorative tile display by students violate the Constitution's separation of church and state. School officials in the Colorado community where the April 1999 shootings took place created the tile project to help students heal from the tragedy through artistic expression. The tiles would be displayed in the school hallways.
But over concerns that the project would be an overwhelming, constant reminder of the shootings, guidelines were set up: No specific references to the attacks, no names of victims, or any offensive or religious symbols or words.
Officials, who said they had the right to regulate expression in school-sponsored activities, rejected about 80-90 tile submissions. One of the submissions had "Jesus Wept" and the date of the shootings.
The legal question for the justices is whether the law allows the government to engage in so-called "viewpoint-based" discrimination. Parents and community groups say it is a clear violation of their First Amendment rights, arguing schools could be free to suppress any religious expression, even removing controversial books from libraries or student art from hallways.
Lower courts have ruled in the schools favor, and previous Supreme Court rulings have given schools broad authority to regulate school-sponsored expression.
If the ruling is overturned, school officials claim viewpoint neutrality could be carried to extremes. They cite the example of a student bulletin board promoting racial tolerance would force the school to allow a similar display promoting racial hatred.
A decision by the Court on whether it will accept the case may come as soon as Monday, when the justices meet in open Court after a winter break.
