Stephen Maturin

Today the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a civil rights lawsuit filed by the salutatorian of a high school graduating class. The student alleged, among other things, that his First Amendment rights were infringed when the high school's principal required that he excise Christian proselytizing statements from the speech he gave at a graduation ceremony. The court of appeals held that the school's "actions were necessary to avoid a conflict with the Establishment Clause."

If nothing else, today's ruling confirms that the Supreme Court holdings in Lee v. Weisman and its progeny still have teeth after Good News Club v. Milford Central School.

The Ninth Circuit's unanimous opinion is available in PDF here.