BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CWNews.com) - An Alabama school district this week relented and settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of an 11-year-old girl who was told she could not openly wear a cross necklace under her school's dress code.

    Kandice Smith was told by authorities of the Walker County School District at the beginning of the school year that she had to hide the cross, a gift from her parents, under clothing. The Curry Middle School had instituted a mandatory dress code that included a provision that said: "Neck jewelry should be restricted to around the neck and not hang outside of required shirt."

    The American Center for Law and Justice, which represented Kandice in the suit, argued that "religious expression such as wearing a cross is protected expression pursuant to both the United States Constitution and the Alabama Constitution. These are very important constitutional safeguards that we must defend whenever they are threatened."

    The settlement agreement requires the school to revise its dress code "to mandate religious accommodations in accordance with the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment." Similar cases where students were forbidden from wearing openly wearing religious symbols have been settled in other states recently.