Groups: Remove Jesus Portrait From Ohio School
Two groups that sued to stop the display of a Jesus portrait in a school district’s middle school now want the portrait removed from the wall of a high school where it was moved last month.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a federal lawsuit in February charging that the portrait, which was then displayed in the Jackson City Schools middle school, unconstitutionally promotes religion in a public school. They filed an amended complaint Monday, asking the court to also prohibit the portrait from display in the high school for the same reason.
School officials said last month that the portrait was moved at the preference of a Christian-based student club the southern Ohio district views as its owner. School officials said then that taking the portrait down would censor students’ private speech.
School district offices were closed Monday night, and school officials did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The 2,500-student district is in Jackson, a city of about 7,000 residents in mostly rural Appalachian Ohio.
The superintendent of the Jackson City Schools, Phil Howard, said last month that the portrait was moved at the request of the Hi-Y club, which put it up in 1947 in a building that is now the middle school.
The complaint about the portrait has left the district in the midst of an ongoing national debate over what displays of religion are
constitutional.
More: Groups: Remove Jesus Portrait From Ohio School - TwinCities.com