(AgapePress) - Attorneys for the Rutherford Institute have asked a circuit court to preserve the constitutional rights of an elementary school student in New Jersey who wanted to give religious gifts to his classmates.

On Thursday, oral arguments were heard in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Appeals Court in Philadelphia on behalf of Dana Walz and her son, Daniel. In April 1998, during the Easter season, Daniel was told by school officials that he could not hand out pencils that stated "Jesus Loves the Little Children" during a class party.

Later that same year, in December, Daniel was told that he could only hand out candy canes with a salvation message attached if he did it outside the school building during non-instructional time. However, his classmates were permitted to hand out non-religious gifts during a party.

Stephen Aden is an attorney for the Rutherford Institute who is representing Daniel and his mother. He says the school district violated Daniel's constitutional rights.

"He was told he couldn't pass those [items] out because school officials were afraid that parents would get wind of it and think that the school was promoting Christianity," Aden says. "So it's clearly a case of discriminatory treatment on the basis of Daniel's Christian faith."

The attorney says school officials cannot single out Christian students for discrimination. "School authorities are afraid always of crossing the so-called 'line of separation of church and state,'" he says. "But what they end up doing is singling out and excluding Christians, sending a message of disfavor -- like they did to Daniel Walz."

The appeals court is expected to rule on the case this spring.

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