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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Two Sioux Falls parochial schools were asked to paint over religious messages that students had put on city-owned snow plow blades after a group complained that it violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
Students at Lutheran High School and Sioux Falls Lutheran School painted the plow blades for the city's Paint the Plows program. One blade included the words "Jesus Christ" and the other "Happy Birthday Jesus."
The Siouxland Freethinkers complained, saying religious messaging doesn't belong on publicly owned vehicles, including snow plows.
"If I painted a plow that said, 'There is no god,' I think people would be very, very upset about that," spokeswoman Amanda Novotny told the Argus Leader (http://argusne.ws/1pECKSJ ).
Lutheran High School Principal Derek Bult said he was upset when he learned students had to redecorate the blade or it wouldn't be used on a plow. He said the students put a lot of time and effort into their original design, and he wonders about their right to free speech.
The free speech rights are muddied because the words are displayed on public property, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota.
"When the speech is displayed on public equipment that will be in use and could be viewed by the public as a state-sponsored message, the speech then becomes problematic," Executive Director Heather Smith said.
City officials issued a statement saying, "the city respects the various views and is evaluating procedures and guidelines for the Paint the Plows program going forward."
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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com
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