Legal Question in Constitutional Law in New York
Religious freedom
In a suitutation pertaining religious freedom, does a public school have the right to ban a Valentine's Day message posted by a student outside the classroom on a class V-Day message board that reads '' For God so loved the world that he gave is one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16NIV) WHen the assignment is to just make a valentines day message by the teacher's request,and is ban on the grounds that's said that it sounds too religious and may be mistaken as the schools message.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Religious freedom
Not only the right, but the duty to keep obviously religious references outside the public school setting. Valentine's day is not a religious holiday, and biblical quotes such as here are never appropriate in a public setting. Separation of church and state means church business may not be promoted by public institutions.
Re: Religious freedom
The First Amendment means that public institutions can neither promote nor retard any religous content of whatever type. While it would be inappropriate for the school (i.e. the teacher or an administrator) to post such a message, it is equally inappropriate for the school to do anything to impede a student's religous expression that is truly private - i.e. that the student, on his or her own, initiates.
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