U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Consider Appeal of Patterson Buchanan Ninth Circuit Victory

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 22, 2010 denied a petition asking it to hear and overturn a ruling in favor of Washington's Everett School District by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appeals court had ruled in September 2009 that the school district's decisions regarding the playing of an instrumental "Ave Maria" at a high school graduation were constitutional. With the Supreme Court's denial, that decision stands.

A student had alleged in her lawsuit that the school district's refusal to allow Franz Biebl's composition to be performed at Jackson High School's graduation ceremony violated her constitutional rights. Patterson Buchanan's attorneys countered that her rights had not been violated and that the school district had acted reasonably in attempting to avoid an Establishment Clause violation. Chief Judge Robert Lasnik of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington agreed and dismissed the plaintiff's claims on summary judgment. The Ninth Circuit affirmed this decision.

Turning to the U.S. Supreme Court, lawyers for the plaintiff argued in her petition that the Ninth Circuit's decision "places at great risk countless opportunities for students nationwide to perform selected musical works of religious inspiration" and "threatens important pedagogical interests forming the backbone of Western Art and Culture." In their brief in opposition to the petition, Patterson Buchanan attorneys Mike Patterson and Sarah Mack argued on behalf of the school district that the Court should deny the petition because the Ninth Circuit decision was not so sweeping and was, in fact, entirely consistent with the Supreme Court's own rulings on free speech.

The case is Nurre v. Whitehead.