NEW YORK, October 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments today on behalf of a former kindergarten student from Syracuse, New York, whose art project was censored by public school teachers, because it featured an image of Jesus.
For the third time in 10 years, Liberty Counsel will represent Antonio Peck and his mother in the case of Peck v. Baldwinsville School District before the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Liberty Counsel filed this case in 1999, after school officials punished Antonio for twice including a figure of Jesus in a poster that was part of a kindergarten class project designed to show their understanding of the environment.
Antonio's first poster had several religious figures and added the words, “The only way to save the world” – expressing his belief that God was the only way to save the environment. After this poster was rejected because of its religious content, the kindergartener was forced to create a second poster.
The second poster contained cutout figures and other artistic work, including children holding hands around a globe, people recycling trash, and children picking up garbage.
However, on the left side of the poster was a bearded man wearing a robe, kneeling with one knee to the ground, and hands stretched toward the sky. For Antonio, this figure was Jesus, but he did not identify the figure on the poster.
Antonio's poster was displayed for part of one day on a cafeteria wall, along with 80 other student posters, but unlike the other posters, school officials had folded his in half in order to hide the anonymous Jesus.
This will be the third time the appeals court has heard the case – mostly thanks to a federal trial court judge, who has ruled for the Baldwinsville School District every time the Circuit Court remanded the case back to him.
In 2000, New York federal judge Norman Mordue ruled that the school had the right to censor Antonio's poster because of “church and state” concerns. In 2001, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision 3-0 and sent the case back to the trial court.
In 2004, Judge Mordue again ruled in favor of the school district but was again reversed 3-0 in 2005, when the appeals court ruled that public schools may not censor a student's viewpoint on a permissible subject matter when it is responsive to a school assignment or program. Another trial was held before Judge Mordue in January 2007, who gave his most recent ruling in October 2008 that public school officials had the right to censor the poster. Liberty Counsel then filed the current appeal.
Mathew Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, will argue the case before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which has already ruled twice in Antonio's favor. According to Staver, officials ignored federal guidelines on religion in public schools recognizing that students may include religious themes in assignments.
“Students may present religious themes in their homework,” said Staver. “What a terrible message to send to students that everything is permissible so long as it is not Christian. These educators need educating about the Constitution and American history.”
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
Pennsylvania Student Ordered to Remove Pro-Life T-Shirt During Obama Address to Students
Federal Government Bans Religious Ornaments for 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree
Arizona schoolchildren chosen to decorate tree told to keep religion out
Supreme Court Allows Decision to Stand Protecting Religious Speech in Public Schools