Antonio Peck and his mother Joanne Peck filed suit against the Baldwinsville
Central School District and Catherine McNamara Elementary School
on November 1, 1999 claiming that Antonio's constitutional rights
were violated when the school censored his poster because it contained
a religious drawing.
Antonio was in Kindergarten during the 1998-1999
school year. His class was studying the environment and the teacher
gave an assignment
that the students were to draw a poster showing their understanding
of the environment. The posters were to be displayed at an upcoming
program to which parents were invited. Antonio drew a poster that
contained crayon drawings and cut-out art showing people praying.
The poster boldly proclaimed at the top, "The Only Way To Save
Our World!" The teacher refused to display the poster claiming
that the poster was religious and may offend some other students.
Antonio then drew a second poster that showed
a crayon drawing of children picking up garbage in front of a church,
a picture of a
globe with children holding hands circling the globe, a man and a
woman dropping trash into a recycle bin, and a picture of a man in
a robe kneeling down with both hands stretched toward the sky. Antonio's
poster was displayed along with the other children's work, but Antonio's
poster was folded in half to remove the picture of the man kneeling
(presumably Jesus). Because the poster was displayed folded in half,
it looked bizarre and out of place. The poster was folded so that
the figure kneeling could not be construed as religious and thereby "offend" others.
On behalf of Antonio, Liberty Counsel filed suit after several unsuccessful
attempts to resolve the issue informally. The lawsuit claims that
the school violated Antonio's right to freedom of speech, and freedom
of religion.
The poster was clearly Antonio' work, and by folding the poster
in half, the school sent a message to Antonio that his religion was
something that was illegal and should be carried around in a brown
paper bag. Such hostility towards religious belief is unconstitutional.