WESTFIELD, Mass. — A federal judge ruled March 17 that students at Westfield High School, Westfield, Mass., had the right to distribute religiously-themed candy last Christmas and should not have been suspended.
U.S. District Court Judge Frank Freedman said the students’ free speech rights were violated when they were prohibited from handing out candy canes with Christian messages. Freedman also said the school was wrong to suspend the students after they ignored the principal’s order to stop.
Students “enjoy the right to free personal intercommunication with other students so long as their communication with other students does not substantially or materially disrupt the operation of the classroom,” Freedman said in his ruling.
The candy canes were accompanied by a note that explained the candy’s history and included an invitation to Christianity. Freedman rejected the school’s argument that the principal had the right to restrict the messages because the student Bible club was a school-sanctioned activity.
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