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But rather than "parse each individual line," it sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, who earlier said the district was right to ban the pamphlet completely.

ACLJ attorney Walter M. Weber tells the Associated Press that the decision "sends an important message about the constitutional rights of religious speakers. School districts cannot legally discriminate against the type of literature distributed at schools simply because that literature promotes an event that includes religious speech."

But school district attorney Mary Ellen Simonson says the "important message" is unclear: "It does leave districts in a very distressing quandary of having to decide what is or is not acceptable as religious material," she told The Arizona Republic.

1. Town moves polling place | Framingham settles with a Jewish attorney who had filed a federal lawsuit claiming his voting rights had been violated when he was forced to vote in a Methodist church (The Metrowest Daily News, Framingham, Mass.)
   
   
2. District warns of proselytization on school campus | Superintendent Dr. David Anthony is meeting with McKinney school principals, warning them of lunchtime visits by so-called youth ministers who recruit students to join Christian-based youth groups such as K-Life and Young Life (McKinney Messenger, Tex.)
   
   
3. Religion-in-school speeches may graduate to higher court | Guidelines on the do's and don'ts of expressing religious beliefs in high school graduation speeches are so open to interpretation that those on both sides of the issue seek the intervention of a higher authority, the U.S. Supreme Court (Contra Costa Times, Calif.)

1. Why President Bush's "new" emphasis on religion is hardly new | A look back at the Clinton administration and religion (Marci Hamilton, Findlaw.com)
   
   
2. W.'s Christian nation | How Bush promotes religion and erodes the separation of church and state (Chris Mooney, The American Prospect)
   
   
3. Confuse secular and sacred and all you get is trouble | It's a problem in the U.S., Britain, and now here in New Zealand (Garth George, The New Zealand Herald)
   
   
4. Elective Bible course turned down by school board | But school will probably offer comparative religions course (Chico Enterprise-Record, Calif.)
   
   
5. Missionary question for jurors ruled okay | An attorney should have been allowed to ask potential Washington County jurors whether they had children serving church missions, the Utah Court of Appeals ruled Thursday (The Salt Lake Tribune)
   
   
6. Conservatives seek curb on military moms | "Healthy, responsible nations do not send the mothers of small children to or near the front lines—that violates the most basic human instincts," says Family Research Council (Associated Press)

1. Deputy wants to protect the faithful | Bill increases the penalties for those who use threats of violence to obstruct religious services, offend a religion in the media and vandalize church buildings, religious symbols or cemeteries (The Moscow Times)
   
   

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May (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47