Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TRENTON, N.J., Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Even the American Civil Liberties Union says an 8-year-old Frenchtown, N.J., girl should have been allowed to sing a religious song in a school talent show. The ACLU Monday asked to join a federal lawsuit brought on behalf of Olivia Turton by the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based family values group, the Easton (Pa.) Express Times reported. Advertisement While the ACLU has fought numerous legal battles to prevent public schools and governmental bodies from promoting religion, "There is a distinction between speech by a school and speech by individual students," the ACLU said in a statement. The civil liberties group asked to join the suit filed in Trenton, N.J., supporting Turton's right to sing Rich Mullins' "Awesome God" at an already-held school talent show. Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jeff Shafer said it is rare for his organization and the ACLU to be on the same side. That shows how "egregiously the school board erred," Shafer said.
