On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute attorneys present oral arguments before Second Circuit of Appeals in religious brick case
New York, N.Y.-- Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute presented oral arguments before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, February 14, 2003, on behalf of Oswego County residents who sued Mexico Academy High School for violating their free speech and equal protection rights. The residents charge that after encouraging them to purchase, inscribe, and place bricks in the school walkway as part of a student fundraiser, school officials removed those bricks containing overt Christian messages.Students of the Mexico Academy High School Class of 1999 conducted a fundraiser allowing members of the community to purchase bricks for $30 each, to be inscribed with a personal message and placed in the walkway to the school's entrance. The only restriction placed on the messages was that they not contain "obscene and vulgar language." Robert Kiesinger and Ronald Russell, residents of Oswego County, purchased bricks and inscribed them with religious messages including, "Jesus Saves/ John 3:16" and "Jesus Is Lord." In response to a complaint about the religious messages on the bricks from a member of the community, the school erected a plaque within the walkway stating, "The messages in this walk are the personal expressions and contributions of the individuals of Mexico Academy and Central School Community." By doing so, the school clearly established that the messages were private free speech not endorsed by the school. Succumbing to renewed complaints about the bricks bearing religious messages, school officials eventually jack hammered out of the walkway all bricks inscribed with overtly Christian messages. School officials stated that any bricks referencing Jesus were considered to be promoting a particular religion and could not be included in the walkway. However, officials allowed messages such as "God Bless You" to remain, claiming that they do not pertain to a particular religion. The original lawsuit, filed by Institute attorneys in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, charged that school officials discriminated against some of the residents' religious views by specifically censoring the Christian messages inscribed on their bricks, thus violating the rights guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the New York Constitution. Institute attorneys are appealing the District Court's refusal to grant a preliminary injunction to have the bricks reinstalled.
"When a public entity opens a forum for expression, it cannot close the forum to those who espouse a religious viewpoint," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "These individuals had the right to participate in the walkway project without suffering exclusion and demotion to second-class status in the community."
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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