Free Republic

WEST COVINA (CBSLA.com) — Religious freedom advocates are calling on the West Covina Unified School District to adopt policy changes and issue a formal apology after an alleged incident involving bullying against a Christian student. Advocates for Faith & Freedom, an Irvine-based nonprofit law firm, issued a letter Monday on behalf of Isaiah Martinez, a first grader at Merced Elementary School who took traditional candy canes as Christmas gifts for his teacher, Valerie Lu, and classmates on Dec. 13, 2013, according to attorney Robert Tyler. Each candy cane came with a message attached that recited the history of the candy...

I think the ironic celebration of the holidays in the form of gaudy Christmas sweaters is kind of lame. But one Virginia high school’s punishment of a group that called themselves the “Christmas Sweater Club” just seems ridiculous, even by oversensitive public school standards. Ten students at Battlefield High School in Manassas, Virginia faced detention and other punishment as a result of their involvement in the Christmas Sweater Club. One of the students involved told WUSA that the school said they were “maliciously wounding other kids.” The Club believes that the accusation stems from them throwing candy canes to other...

Can't be linked... Gannett

In the spirit of the season, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton passed out candy canes to reporters here on Saturday. Then she took numerous questions. All this just one day after Clinton sat down for a rare off-the-record session with her traveling press corps in Manchester on Friday night. Playing a little Mrs. Santa Claus with the media? Perhaps. But Clinton is also in close competitions both here and in Iowa, and her advisers believe she can gain an edge if she keeps showing more of her personal side. Although she is the first to admit she is uncomfortable opening up...

Last year, school officials told 9-year-old Jonathan Morgan he couldn't give classmates Christian-themed candy canes at his elementary school's "winter break" party. On Thursday, a federal judge told him he can. U.S. District Judge Paul Brown in Sherman ordered the 52,000-student Plano school district to let students distribute "religious viewpoint gifts" at school parties scheduled for Friday.