News Release
For Immediate Release: 8.12.25
Contact: John Manning, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
New York High School Rejects Senior’s Parking Space Design Due to Bible Verse and Religious Imagery
Despite encouraging students to express themselves through positive artwork, a student was told her design was “inappropriate” because of religious references.
Grand Island, NY—Today, First Liberty Institute and the law firms Mayer Brown LLP and Ganguly Brothers Misula PLLC sent a demand letter to the Grand Island Central School District urging the principal at the Grand Island Senior High School to reverse her denial of Sabrina Steffans’ parking space design that includes Bible references and religious imagery. The school’s tradition allows seniors, for a fee, to “express themselves” by decorating their parking space.
You can read the demand letter here.
“To deny our client a school tradition that lets the seniors express themselves in a unique way just because she has a religious message is not only unconstitutional, it’s mean,” said Keisha Russell, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “The history and tradition of our nation allow for the private expression of faith in public forums like this. The school is simply wrong to censor her design.”
Sabrina is a rising senior at Grand Island, New York Senior High School who leads the Bible club at her school. The school has a tradition that allows seniors, for a fee, to reserve and decorate their parking space to “encourage students to express themselves through positive artwork, to beautify the campus, to build school spirit, and to create a new and exciting tradition to support Senior Class activities and events.” Sabrina submitted her parking space design as an expression of her Christian faith that included the phrases, “God is love,” “He loves you,” a cross, and John 14:6. She was told to remove the Bible verse because the school considered the words inside the parking spaces to be “government speech” not personal speech. Her third and final design was only approved after all Bible references or the name of God was removed.
In the letter, attorneys state: “The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment requires public school officials to be neutral in their treatment of religion, showing neither favoritism toward nor hostility against religious adherents. Accordingly, the First Amendment forbids religious activity that is sponsored by the government but protects religious activity that is initiated by individuals acting on their own behalf. The Court has explained that “there is a crucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the Establishment Clause forbids, and private speech endorsing religion, which the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses protect.” Bd. of Educ. v. Mergens.
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact John Manning at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
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