Judge Bars Use of Church for Graduation Ceremonies

This from the School Law blog:

A federal district judge has blocked a Connecticut school district from holding high school graduation ceremonies at a large Christian church.

The Enfield school district's use of First Cathedral Church, a Baptist mega-church in Bloomfield, Conn., would likely violate the First Amendment's prohibition against a government establishment of religion, U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall of Bridgeport, Conn., said in a May 31 ruling.

"The court concludes that holding 2010 graduations at First Cathedral would require a conformity of the graduating seniors at Enfield and Fermi high schools that is too high an exaction to withstand constitutional scrutiny," Judge Hall said in Does v. Enfield Public Schools.

The judge noted that those attending the graduation ceremonies at First Cathedral would encounter a large cross on the cathedral's roof, another large central cross at the cathedral's main entrance, a stained-glass depiction of worshipers in the cathedral's main entrance, and yet another large cross behind the stage that "undoubtedly constitutes the focal point of the entire sanctuary." ...