First-grader can’t give Christian messages

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A U.S. District Court judge ruled that school officials were justified in forbidding a first-grade girl from giving her classmates pencils and candy canes with Christian messages during class parties. Attorneys for the Rutherford Institute have appealed the decision. “Students should not be treated differently solely because of the content of their religious viewpoints,” said Steven H. Aden, chief litigation counsel for the Rutherford Institute. “If others are permitted to hand out secular holiday cards, then Danielle should be allowed to hand out religious cards. We hope the appeals court will understand this and force the school to stop its discriminatory policy.”