Bauchman v. West High School

The Becket Fund believes that freely practicing religion includes the right to celebrate religious holidays with the full splendor and pageantry that such occasions call for.  In 1994 Utah’s West High School choir attempted to do just that during its Christmas concert.  In addition to including non-religious holiday songs, the choir selected songs that reflected the religious heritage of Christmas.  Rachel Bauchman, a student at the high school, sued the school alleging that the inclusion of songs with religious lyrics or themes amounted to a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

The Becket Fund intervened on behalf of students and parents of the school to defend their right to celebrate the Christmas holidays as a community.  After the federal district court ruled in our favor, Ms. Bauchman continued to pursue her claim in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.  In December 1997 the Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Ms Bauchman’s claim, noting that “[there is] no reason to conclude that defendants' selection of religious songs and religious performance venues serves an impermissible purpose simply because some of those songs and venues, which undisputedly represent only part of the Choir's repertoire and performance venues, may coincide with religious beliefs different from those of Ms. Bauchman.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear Ms. Bauchman's appeal capped our successful defense of West High School students’ right to celebrate Christmas without having to publically censor themselves.

Articles & News Items

• "School Choir Can Sing Christmas Music, Appeals Court Rules," December 22, 1997