Bauchman v. West High School. The Becket Fund has won an important victory for members of a high school choir in Utah who fought to preserve their right to perform a diverse repertoire that includes music with religious origins or texts. One student at the school sued school officials challenging the choir's performance of a Christmas concert and performance of songs with religious texts. The Becket Fund, representing other students and their parents, intervened in the case, arguing that given the prevalence of religious themes and text in Western music as a whole, it is natural that a rich and diverse music curriculum would include music with religious references. The Federal District Court ruled in our favor and dismissed the claim. The Plaintiff appealed, and the case was heard by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals which affirmed on December 18, 1997 (see below).
On December 18, 1997, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the Defendants and Defendant-Intervenors, finding no constitutional violation in a public school choir including songs with religious themes in its repertoire. It affirmed the district court's dismissal of Ms. Bauchman's complaint and denial of her motion to amend the complaint. The Court held that the plaintiff's
allegations are insufficient to support her Establishment Clause claim given the obvious secular purposes for defendants' conduct. We see 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.
. . . .We believe a reasonable observer aware of the purpose, context and history of public education in Salt Lake City, including the historical tension between the government and the Mormon Church, and the traditional and ubiquitous presence of religious themes in vocal music, would perceive the following with respect to Ms. Bauchman's factual allegations concerning the Choir curriculum and performance venues: the Choira represents one of Salt Lake City's public high schools and is comprised of a diverse group of students; many of the Choir's songs have religious content -- content predominately representative of Judeo-Christian beliefs; in contrast to a church choir, this Choir also performs a variety of secular songs; the Choir's talent is displayed in the diverse array of songs performed and in a number of different public (religious and nonreligious) settings, all of which reflect the community's culture and heritage. Certainly, any given observer will give more or less meaning to the lyrics of a particular song sung in a particular venue based on that observer's individual experiences and spiritual beliefs. However, the natural consequences of the Choir's alleged activities, viewed in context and in their entirety by a reasonable observer, would not be the advancement or endorsement of religion. Ms. Bauchman's complaint therefore fails to support a claim that the Choir curriculum or Choir activities have a principle or primary effect of endorsing religion.
On January 28, 1998, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, en banc, denied Ms. Bauchman's petition for rehearing.
The Supreme Court's denied plaintiff's petition for certiorari on June 26, 1998, ending our successful defense of public school students to be free from anti-religious censorship.