Judge Rules Jesus Can Remain in Courthouse

A federal judge rebuffed a request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in early September by refusing to remove a painting of Jesus Christ from a display at the Slidell city courthouse lobby in Slidell, La.

“The court today recognized that the First Amendment allows public officials, and not the ACLU, to determine what is appropriate for acknowledging our nation’s legal and cultural heritage,” said Mike Johnson, senior counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the city of Slidell, a Slidell city judge and the parish of St. Tammany in the suit filed by the ACLU in July.

The Jesus painting is mounted in the courthouse alongside 15 other portraits of notable lawgivers in history, including Moses, Charlemagne and Sir William Blackstone