Nativity Scene in High School Christmas Pageant Unconstitutional?

A South Bend, Indiana, public school system is being sued after a high school student and his father filed a complaint about a 20-minute live Nativity scene that has been a yearly tradition at the school's Christmas pageant.

The Elkhard Truth reports that one year after filing the complaint, the plaintiffs are still pursuing a court order that will prevent the school from performing old versions of the live show that contain the Nativity scenes.

According to an October court filing by the school district, the superintendent and school board had agreed not to include live Nativity scenes in the Christmas Spectacular any longer. In addition, school officials promised to use mannequins instead of live actors to depict the play.

But the plaintiffs said that was not enough, insisting the show should be stopped altogether. Their attorneys say the pageant violates U.S. constitutional prohibitions against endorsement of religion.

"Throughout the course of this litigation, the school corporation has repeatedly attempted to justify its unconstitutional behavior and has failed to make it absolutely clear that it will not revert to previous versions of the Christmas Spectacular in the future," American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana lawyer Gavin Rose wrote in an Oct. 26 filing.

This court filing is the last one expected from the father and high school student before the ruling.