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Loading ...Philadelphia Inquirer: Parents who object to school uniforms in one Salem County school district may opt out of the requirement on religious grounds if they get a note from a rabbi, pastor or imam.
So where does that leave an atheist who objects to the district’s red, white and khaki uniforms?
“It’s an equal-rights case,” said Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists. “There’s no reason why only religious parents are given a right that nonreligious parents can’t have.”
Eugene Volokh, a professor at the UCLA School of Law in Los Angeles who clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, said the court might be troubled more by another issue: the school board’s requirement that parents who object to the uniform policy get a note from a religious leader.
The Supreme Court has generally said that whether something qualifies as a sincere religious belief depends on what the person himself believes, even if his clergy disagrees or won’t back him up,” he said. “Some doctrines, as I understand it, don’t even have religious leaders.
