The Nation - News from Aug. 2, 1988

A federal judge in Springfield, Mo., threw out a century-old ban on school dances in a small Ozarks town, saying the ban has the effect of promoting religious values, is unconstitutional, and “must be invalidated.” U.S. District Judge Russell Clark said the ban on school-sponsored dancing in Purdy has “the primary effect . . . to endorse the tenets of that particular religious group in Purdy who believe that social dancing is sinful.” Residents of Purdy say the ban could be 100 years old. Clark awarded the 21 students and their parents, plaintiffs in the 1986 civil suit, nearly everything they asked for, including $1 in nominal damages and attorney fees.