Supreme Court May Rule on Candy Cane Symbolism in Censorship Case

What is the meaning of a candy cane? Is it a religious symbol? Why are the cherry-flavored, rainbow ones so hard to find? The Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on at least two of these questions, in a ruling that could come to rival the Twinkie defense in food-related legal lore. The case appealed to the high court on Monday involves the candy cane-style Christmas ornaments made in 2003 by then 11-year-old Joel Curry for a project at his public school in Saginaw, Michigan. A note attached to the ornaments, entitled “The Meaning of the Candy Cane” and copied from an ornament at a Christian bookstore, contained multiple references to Jesus and God. School officials considered it “religious literature” and asked him to remove it.

Then came the lawsuits. According to The Saginaw News, “In September 2006, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the principal had violated Curry’s First Amendment rights. A three-judge panel for the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the that decision.” The Supreme Court should decide by fall whether the case makes its docket, and we’re crossing our fingers that it does, if only because we’d love to see what Marc Summers of Unwrapped could do with an amicus curiae brief on candy cane history. As for Curry, he received an A on that fifth-grade project and will soon start his sophomore year of high school.

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