The beautiful strains of “Ave Maria” will not echo through the marbled walls of the Supreme Court, nor will arguments, over Justice Samuel Alito’s objections, in a case about the playing of the standard at a high school graduation.
On Monday the high court announced it will not hear the appeal of Kathryn Nurre who with other classmates was prohibited from performing an instrumental version of the popular tune at their graduation ceremony from an Everett, Washington high school.
The school’s principal after consultation with other officials struck the song from the graduation program. District superintendent Carol Whitehead justified the decision by reasoning that “many people would see [the song] as religious in nature.”
Nurre sued the school district claiming its decision violated her constitutional rights. Lower courts have ruled in favor of the district but in their petition to the Supreme Court, Nurre’s lawyers contend “the censorship in this case involves political correctness run amuck.”
