An image of Jesus that has hung in a Jackson, Ohio middle school for over 60 years and was recently moved to a Jackson high school has now been taken down.
According to an Associated Press report, the Jackson City School district has agreed to take the picture down amid first amendment concerns.
The picture was hung in Jackson Middle School in 1947. It is owned by the school’s Christian Hi-Y Club, which took the picture down on Wednesday.
The decision to take the picture down came after a student and two parents, with help from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio and the Freedom from Religion Foundation, had sued the school district. The lawsuit claimed the picture was unconstitutional, as it promoted a particular set of religious beliefs.
Superintendent Phil Howard told the AP that the decision was based on the high cost that battling the lawsuit would cost. The school board had initially voted to keep the picture up, arguing that removing it would violate the Hi-Y Club students’ free speech rights.
