Introduction
Religion is a significant part of life, protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Under the Amendment, the government can neither establish a religion nor abridge the freedoms of free exercise of religion or free speech. These clauses can constitute a contradiction when persons bring religious symbols or discussions to the public space. This is particularly legally challenging in a public-school setting, where displaying religious symbols can be seen as being endorsed by the school, which contradicts the Establishment Clause. In the provided example, a student’s essay and artwork depicting Jesus raise two legal issues.
Issue 1: Displaying the Artwork
The First Amendment prevents the government from prohibiting the free exercise of religion. However, permanent displays of religious symbols are not permissible under the Establishment Clause (Anti-Defamation League, 2012). Existing guidelines state that such displays may be permissible if they are temporary and integrated into a secular curriculum (Anti-Defamation League, 2012). Furthermore, such a display can fall under the distribution of student materials, which the school can restrict based on their content, viewpoint, or the validity of its educational message (Anti-Defamation League, 2012). The artwork needs to be reviewed and these questions answered to determine whether it can be displayed in the classroom. If displaying the artwork is agreed to be permissible, an additional disclaimer should be added to it, explaining that the school does not endorse its message.
Generally, the U.S. Supreme Court views public displays of religious symbols on school property as unconstitutional. Specifically, in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000), the Court ruled that delivering a prayer over the school’s public announcement (PA) system was unconstitutional since its use of the school’s equipment led to the audience assuming that the school endorsed the message. Furthermore, the same case used Lee. v. Weisman as precedent to establish that such messages are delivered to a captive audience (1992). Finally, in Engel v.Vitale (1962), the Court established that school-led religious activity is unconstitutional regardless of its content or ties to a particular religion. These rulings illustrate the unconstitutionality of using school resources for religious messaging by its students.
Issue 2: Grading the Essay
Grading the essay submitted by the student raises similar issues related to the perceived endorsement of its content. Any grade, positive or negative, can be viewed as either promoting or denigrating the religion, which contradicts the Establishment Clause (Haynes & Thomas, 2007. While teaching religion in schools is unconstitutional, teaching about religion is not (Haynes & Thomas 2007. Students are allowed to express their religious beliefs in their homework or artwork assignments, as such expression is protected by the First Amendment’s free exercise and free speech clauses (Haynes & Thomas 2007. The grading of such work, however, should only “be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance, and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns” (Haynes & Thomas, 2007 p. 53). Ultimately, this means that while grading the essay in question is possible, the teacher needs to take care not to include any religious matters in his or her judgment.
Conclusion
School students presenting religious content or expressing religious views in their assignments raise significant legal issues in regards to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. While such expressions are permitted under the free exercise and free speech clauses, the school cannot endorse or denigrate them. Therefore, an essay that discusses religious subjects can be graded by ordinary academic standards, not by any religious content. Religious artwork submitted for an assignment needs to be reviewed and may be temporarily displayed in a classroom, if it is presented in a neutral context, pertains to the current curriculum, and an explicit disclaimer is added explaining that the school does not endorse the message.
References
Anti-Defamation League. (2012). Religion in the Public Schools. New York, NY: Author.
Engel v. Vitale, 370. U.S. 421 (1962).
Haynes, C., & Thomas, O. (2007). Finding Common Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Schools. Nashville, TN: First Amendment Center.
Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992).
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (2000).