10th Circuit: controversial campus statue not unconstitutional

[Judi Lynn]

10th Circuit: controversial campus statue not unconstitutional

By The Associated Press
07.29.05
DENVER — An appellate court yesterday ruled that a public university had not unconstitutionally endorsed an anti-Catholic viewpoint by allowing on campus a statue depicting a clergyman with a bishop's miter that some said was offensive to the Roman Catholic Church because of its phallic appearance.

A student and faculty member filed a lawsuit after the statue — titled "Holier Than Thou" — was installed on Washburn University's campus in September 2003. The display was part of a larger outdoor display at the municipal university in Topeka, Kan. The statue has already been removed, as scheduled, from the campus.

Ruling in O'Connor v. Washburn University, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision and said the school had not violated the First Amendment.

"This court holds that the statue's placement on Washburn's campus under these circumstances does not constitute an unconstitutional endorsement of an anti-Catholic message," the opinion said.
(snip/...)

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15604

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the statue:

http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0304/0304holierthanthou.htm

[liberal N proud]

1. Aren't the things that Bishops wear kind of phallic in looks?

The statue is not any thing other than depicting the real thing.

[DBoon]

2. look closely at the top

nt

[Mairead]

3. It looks to me as though it's intended as an insult

but I think the idea that it insults RCism as an institution is too far-fetched to be taken seriously.

[Village Idiot]

4. The Purple-Helmetted Warrior of Love Strikes Back!!!