Wisconsin High School's Eleventh-Hour Decision to Allow Students to Distribute Christmas Cards Averts Lawsuit

West Bend, WI - Late yesterday afternoon, the West Bend Joint School District made an eleventh-hour decision that averted a federal lawsuit scheduled to be filed this morning regarding the school's refusal to allow high school students to distribute Christmas cards containing the story of the religious origins of the candy cane. The five high school students are represented by Liberty Counsel.

Jeffrey Weigand, Rebecca Voigt, Danny Garris, David Daniel, and Kara Waala attend West Bend High School and are members of a student-initiated Christian club known as the Wednesday Morning Bible Study Prayer Group ("prayer group"). The students prepared Christmas greeting cards which they intended to pass to classmates during noninstructional time. The cards told the story about a candy maker who wanted to make a candy that symbolized the true meaning of Christmas. The candy cane was shaped like a "J" to represent the name of Jesus. "The color white stands for the pureness of Jesus. The color red represents the blood of Jesus shed for us". The card then concludes by saying, "Have a Merry Christmas." On December 6, Jeffrey Weigand presented the greeting card to Principal Cassandra Schug, who denied permission to distribute the card because of its religious message.

On December 7, Superintendent David Shapley informed Jeffrey that the card could not be distributed because of its religious content. Liberty Counsel faxed a letter to the Superintendent and the entire school board on December 7, requesting a response by December 9. Hearing no response, a federal lawsuit was prepared, but while Liberty Counsel attorney Rena Lindevaldsen was at the Orlando International Airport on December 13 waiting to board a flight to Wisconsin, the school district attorney informed our office that the district would allow the distribution of the Christmas cards. The lawsuit was scheduled to be filed early this morning. In the suit, the students were seeking an emergency hearing today.

A few weeks ago, Liberty Counsel announced its second annual "Friend or Foe" campaign. Liberty Counsel will be a friend of school districts or governmental entities that do not intentionally censor the religious aspect of Christmas but will be the foe of those that do. Public school students have the right to distribute Christmas cards to their friends during noninstructional time. Students may also sing religious Christmas carols such as "Silent Night" or "The First Noel" as part of a holiday concert.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated: "Christmas is constitutional. To allow the celebration of only the secular aspects of Christmas shows hostility, rather than neutrality, toward religion. Those who censor the religious aspects of Christmas thinking that they are honoring the Constitution, in fact, violate the Constitution by discriminating against the religious viewpoint. The government must respect our religious heritage."

More Information on Celebrating Christmas in Public Places

A legal memorandum entitled "Nativity Scenes and Other Religious Symbols in Public Places" is available in our online store. Click on the "search" tab and enter the word "Christmas." This resource is helpful in discussions with school officials.