Judge rules high-school graduation in a church is unconstitutional

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A federal judge has ruled that two Connecticut public high schools can't hold their graduations inside a church because that would be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall made the ruling yesterday in the case of Enfield High School and Enrico Fermi High School, both in Enfield.

The Enfield school board says that it voted to hold services June 23 and 24 at The First Cathedral in Bloomfield because it had enough space at the right price. But two students sued.

The judge says that Enfield had unconstitutionally entangled itself with religion by agreeing to cover much of the church's religious imagery. She also says that the town coerced the plaintiffs to support religion by forcing them to enter the church for graduation.