Back in June, a panel of the 5th Circuit ruled that individual school officials in a Plano, Texas school district can be held responsible for prohibiting an elementary school student from distributing candy canes with a Christian message to her classmates. Because it is "well-established" that the First Amendment protects the student's right to do so, the court said, officials are not entitled to qualified immunity in the suit.

That argument will be reheard by the entire 5th Circuit (en banc), after a petition was granted last week questioning that decision.