Cert. Denied In "Jesus Poster" Case

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Baldwinsville Central School District v. Peck (05-899). The Second Circuit Court of Appeals had rejected an Establishment Clause challenge, agreeing with the school district that there was no evidence that teachers or administrators had acted with the intent to inhibit religion when they folded a kindergarten student's environmental poster in half to hide a robed figure representing Jesus before displaying the poster at a school assembly. The Court of Appeals, however, did conclude that the case should be remanded for trial to determine whether the school district engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination that violated the student's speech rights. (See prior posting.) The Associated Press reports on the denial of cert.