Proof that Crime Does Pay: Theft Ends Establishment Clause Lawsuit

The Harrison County, West Virginia School Board on Thursday voted to end its opposition to a pending lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the display of a painting of Jesus that had hung in Bridgeport High School.

After the suit was filed by the Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union, an unknown intruder stole the painting from the school. According to the Charleston Gazette, after being advised by its attorneys that the high profile case was moot, the Board voted to ask the plaintiffs to drop their lawsuit. In return for an end to the litigation, the Board agreed that "if the reproduction is retrieved, [it] will not put the reproduction back up as it was previously situated."