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A New York high school student has won the right to display Bible verses on her senior parking spot after a battle over free speech and religious expression came to a close.
Grand Island High School initially rejected Sabrina Steffans’ designs because they included Christian imagery and scripture, but after intervention from the First Liberty Institute — a nonprofit legal organization dedicated to defending religious liberty — the school reversed its decision, citing constitutional principles.
“The first [design], I wasn’t very surprised that they turned that down because I do run a Bible club, and they turned down a lot of stuff in the Bible club,” Steffans told Fox News on Tuesday.
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“I was kind of surprised [they turned down the second design] because it was only a Bible verse, so that’s when we kind of decided to take charge and move forward with this [legal action],” she added.
Steffans told “Fox & Friends First” co-host Todd Piro her initial design was a picture of Salvation Mountain, a brightly-colored art installation located in the California desert, featuring murals, Bible verses, and other Christian symbols.
A drawing of her proposed design also included a heart which encased a reference to John 14:6: “God is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes through the Father except through me.”
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“They [the school] denied that completely,” Steffans shared.
“And then there was a second design that just had a Bible verse on it with the Bible verse reference that they turned down as well. They didn’t turn down the last one when it finally didn’t have any religious symbols or religious references at all.”
First Liberty Institute Senior Counsel Keisha Russell told Fox News that the “separation of church and state” argument raised by critics “fails” because “the Constitution doubly protects religious speech under the Free Speech Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.”
“The Supreme Court reiterated that truth back in the Kennedy v. Bremerton case a couple of years ago, and that was a football coach who was fired for praying on the football field,” she said.
“We have a lot of work to do in our public schools right now. We’re so grateful for this win for Sabrina, but there’s a lot of work to be done.”
Grand Island Central School District Superintendent Brian Graham previously issued a statement to CBN News, reiterating the district’s commitment to “fostering an inclusive school environment that respects the rights and dignity of all students.”
“We also take seriously our responsibility to uphold constitutional principles, including the First Amendment,” the statement continued. “While we strongly dispute any assertion that our policies or decisions violated the rights of any student, the Board of Education and District leadership, after careful consultation with legal counsel, have decided that the student in question will be permitted to proceed with her original senior parking space design.”
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