BRIDGEPORT, W. Va. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund reached a settlement agreement today on behalf of a public school board sued by the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State because of a painting of Jesus Christ that had hung on a wall of the school for 37 years. The painting was stolen in August and is still missing.
“This lawsuit never should have arisen in the first place and is now over and done with,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. “The settlement conforms to the board’s consistent position that school officials did not violate the Establishment Clause by having had a painting of Jesus Christ on one of its walls.”
The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the school in June 2006, complaining that the presence of the painting of Jesus Christ on public school property violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. According to the terms of the settlement, the ACLU and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State will dismiss their lawsuit and will not seek to collect attorneys’ fees.
“The school board exercised tremendous maturity in its decision to rid the community of an overreaching, divisive lawsuit brought by the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State,” said McCaleb. “This lawsuit never would have seen the light of day if the First Amendment was applied today as it was intended to be by our Founding Fathers.”
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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Related information
ADF Media Clip: Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb says the settlement brings the case to a close. (14 seconds)