Frederic J. Brown / AFP - Getty Images file

In this file photo taken on Dec. 17, 2011, pedestrians walk past a Christmas display in Santa Monica, California.

Efforts to force Santa Monica, Calif., to reopen spaces in a city park for Christmas Nativity scenes were denied by a federal judge on Monday.

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Audrey B. Collins allows the city of Santa Monica to bar seasonal displays in public, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A controversy erupted after Santa Monica officials stopped a long-standing holiday tradition for groups to set up private, unattended displays in Palisades Park, including a life-size Nativity display that has been a Santa Monica fixture for decades, according to The Associated Press. Atheists have previously protested alongside the displays with anti-God messages in the park. Santa Monica's city council voted to ban all private unattended displays back in June, according to the LA Times.

Previous story: Churches sue California city to bring back nativity scene

The Santa Monica Nativity Scene Committee sued for freedom of speech violations, arguing that while atheists have the right to protest, that freedom doesn't trump the Christians' right to free speech, the AP reported.

"This amounts to an erosion of First Amendment liberty for religious speech in this country," an attorney for the Nativity Scene committee, William Becker, told NBCLosAngeles.com. "It's just one more step in the slippery slope."

The city is reportedly "very pleased" with the ruling, Santa Monica's attorney Barry A. Rosenbaum told the LA Times.

"(The judge) understood the government interests and that (groups wanting to put up displays) have a number of alternatives to erect displays," Rosenbaum told the newspaper.

Last year, Santa Monica held a lottery to determine which groups could have displays in city's Palisades Park, according to NBCLosAngeles.com. The atheists won 18 of the 21 available spaces, while the Nativity scene was limited to only two spaces.

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Churches are still allowed to go caroling in the park, hand out literature or stage plays about the birth of Jesus there, Santa Monica Deputy City Attorney Jeanette Schachtner told the AP in an email. Displays on private land are of course permitted.

The parties in this case are all due back in court Dec. 3 for additional arguments, the LA Times reported.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and religion, but also states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." According to the AP, that has been interpreted by courts as providing for separation of church and state, barring government bodies from promoting, endorsing or funding religion or religious institutions.

The Associated Press, as well as NBCLosAngeles.com's Patrick Healy and Jonathan Lloyd contributed to this report.

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A group of Texas high school cheerleaders is at the center of a spat over religious speech after the school district told them they had to stop using Christian-themed banners at school football games.

The large signs, carried onto the field at Kountze High School, included messages such as "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me" and "But thanks be to God which gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," according to a report by NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

Kevin Weldon, superintendent of the Kountze school district, about 85 miles northeast of Houston, informed the cheerleaders’ parents Tuesday that the religious banners would not be allowed, the station reported.

Weldon's decision set off a tempest in the community of about 2,100, but he told the Houston Chronicle that it was based on 2001 Supreme Court decision that keeps religion out of public schools.

"The decision I made is not my personal opinion," Weldon told the Chronicle earlier this week. "I'm a Christian. This puts me between a rock and a hard place."

Weldon reportedly made the decision after receiving a letter of complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that advocates separation of church and state, the Christian Post reported.

Beaumont Enterprise via AP

Kountze High School cheerleaders and other children work on a large sign Wednesday in Kountze, Texas.

But the cheerleaders scored a partial victory on Thursday, when a judge granted a temporary restraining order on enforcement of the ban after parents of the cheerleaders filed a discrimination suit earlier in the week, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Under the injunction, the cheerleaders will be allowed to use the Biblical banners at games at least until an Oct. 4 hearing.

The nonprofit Liberty Institute, which is representing the cheerleaders' parents, argues that it is unconstitutional to censor religious speech in this manner, the Post said.

The Texas Association of School Boards would not discuss its confidential conversations with Weldon, who had sought the organization's advice prior to banning the religious banners, but issued a statement on the case:

"The federal court guidance... draws a distinction between private student speech, including written messages, which enjoys free speech protection under the First Amendment, and school-sponsored speech, which must conform to the Establishment Clause by not endorsing, coercing, or favoring religion,” Joy Baskin, the association's director of legal services, said in the statement.

"Whether the display of a religious message by cheerleaders on the field at a high school football game constituted private or school-sponsored speech depends on a number of factors which must be weighed by the district, its counsel, and in this instance, the judge considering the case," Baskin said.

Cheerleader Macy Matthews, 15, argued that no school money was used and the signs weren't made on school property, so they should be allowed. She said she didn't anticipate the ban.

"It was upsetting because it's what motivated the boys each week," Matthews told the Chronicle. "I was shocked, really. I didn't understand why it would be a problem."

A Facebook page promoting the cheerleaders' cause had garnered more than 39,000 members by Friday.

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- A vivid mural in an Oregon town that depicts a Tibetan monk's immolation and promotes independence for Taiwan has created a dust-up with China, whose consular officials have asked the city to take "effective measures" to stop such advocacy.

The mayor of the town of Corvallis, where a Taiwanese-American businessman installed the downtown mural to express his political views, responded by telling consular officials free speech laws barred the town from taking any action.

The status of Taiwan and the human rights situation in Tibet is a contentious political issue for China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province to be eventually unified with the mainland.

See a picture of the mural in this article from the Corvallis Gazette-Times

Tensions over Tibet are at their highest in years after a spate of protests over Chinese rule and self-immolations by Tibetan activists, which have prompted a Chinese security crackdown.

"There is only one China in the world, and both Tibet and Taiwan are parts of China. It is a fact recognized by the U.S. and most other countries in the world," read an August 8 letter to Corvallis city leaders from China's Consulate in San Francisco.

"To avoid our precious friendship from being tainted by so-called 'Tibet Independence' and 'Taiwan Independence,' we sincerely hope you can understand our concerns and adopt effective measures to stop the activities advocating 'Tibet Independence' and 'Taiwan Independence' in Corvallis," it added.

Group: Teens set selves on fire, taking Tibet burnings over 50

'Freedom of artistic expression'
The brightly colored mural, painted last month, runs 100 feet long and about 10 feet high along the top of a building at a busy intersection owned by businessman David Lin, who came to America from Taiwan in the 1970s.

The mural shows the immolation of a Tibetan monk against a bright yellow background and depicts a Tibetan monk being beaten by Chinese police, in addition to what the Corvallis Gazette-Times described as "images of Taiwan as a bulwark of freedom."

Lin, 65, told Reuters he had long been concerned about China's role in Taiwan and Tibet, and commissioned the mural because: "I feel that somebody has to stand up and do something."

Lin told the Corvallis Gazette-Times that he was "under a lot of pressure to take down the mural," saying his family and friends were concerned about possibly being arrested if they go to China.

Still, he did not plan to remove it. "I'll just keep it the same. ... I've got to live my life, that's all."

PhotoBlog: Tibetan man sets himself on fire in protest

Municipal leaders said they had informed the consular officials that there was no room for the city government to get involved in such a matter.

"I responded to them that I was sorry to learn the art work caused concern," Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning said, adding that she told Chinese officials in a written response that the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, "and this includes freedom of artistic expression."

The Chinese consulate then sent representatives to Corvallis to express concern in person on September 4. Vice Consul Zhang Hao and Deputy Consul General Song Ruan met with Manning and City Manager Jim Patterson. That meeting did not include any demands.

Corvallis, about 80 miles south of Portland, has a population of about 54,500 people. It is home to Oregon State University, which Patterson said has an estimated 1,600 Chinese students.

The Chinese consulate in San Francisco did not respond to an email request for comment and could not be reached by phone.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

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