Judge Backs Student, Orders Removal of Portrait of Christ
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge sided with a 17-year-old high school senior Wednesday and ordered his public school to remove a portrait of Jesus Christ that has been displayed in a hall for about 30 years.
Judge Benjamin F. Gibson ruled that displaying the picture at Bloomingdale High School is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment, which prohibits government from establishing a religion.
He gave school officials until March 1 to remove the 2-foot-by-3-foot framed print of artist Warner Sallman’s “Head of Christ,” which is bolted to a wall outside the principal’s office.
Student Eric Pensinger, an atheist, sued in October to force removal of the picture, which he said implied the school’s endorsement of Christianity.
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