A very interesting development in the case of an Ohio school with a large portrait of Jesus in the halls. The school’s insurance company has voided its liability policy in the case, presumably because they know it’s a losing fight in the courts, and the school now says it will take the picture down.

The Jackson City School District agreed to remove the picture from its high school after a hearing in federal court in Columbus Tuesday. There wasn’t a court order. But Superintendent Phil Howard says it decided to have the picture taken down after its insurance coverage was denied for the legal battle. Howard released this statement: “Our insurance company denied coverage and we can’t risk taxpayer money at this time. We are ordering the Hi-Y club to take down the portrait to avoid the court ordering us to do so.”

Howard also says he now expects the Hi-Y club to file a lawsuit against the school, but there is little chance of losing that suit. What right is being restricted? They don’t have any right to the school giving them such space to display the picture.

In the Dover trial, their insurance company did the same thing but the school went forward with the challenged policy anyway and lost about a million dollars as a result.