A Colorado high school senior is at the center of a First Amendment debate after being prohibited from adorning her personal parking space with Christian symbols and messages. She claims this ban infringes upon her right to free speech.
Sophia Shumaker, a student at Rampart High School, was informed she could not decorate her parking spot with imagery depicting “a shepherd on a hill, a staff, and a sheep,” along with a Bible verse, as outlined in a demand letter sent to the school on October 22.
When she later proposed a more subtle approach, including the abbreviated verse “1 Cor 13:4” alongside a non-religious design, her request was again denied.
The verse Shumaker wished to include is a well-known passage from the Bible: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”
In light of these refusals, Shumaker sought assistance from the First Liberty Institute, described on its website as the largest legal organization solely committed to safeguarding religious freedom for Americans.
The First Liberty Institute issued a demand letter to both Rampart High School and Academy School District 20, arguing that the messages on senior parking spaces represent private speech and should not be restricted on the basis of religious content.
The letter noted that the school’s policy includes guidelines for senior parking spaces that ‘prohibit messages that the district deems, “offensive, negative, rude, gang-related, political, religious, or trademarked images.”’
It also highlighted the policy that if a student’s first design is deemed ‘unacceptable’ by the school, the student has just one chance to change it before forfeiting their spot.
Sophia Shumaker, a senior at Rampart High School, was barred from decorating her parking space at the school with religious imagery
After her religious designs were banned, Shumaker settled on painting a group of fish with one swimming against the crowd, a design she said quietly represents her faith
The original design Shumaker wanted to paint was a shepherd on a hill with a staff and sheep, along with a bible verse
First Liberty countered those guidelines by pointing out Academy School District 20’s inconsistent policies across schools in the district.
The demand letter said: ‘While Rampart High School bans religious messages on the parking spots as a matter of policy and practice, several schools throughout Academy School District 20 allow religious messages.
‘The district’s inconsistent policies demonstrate that the seniors’ messages on the parking spots in Academy School District 20, including those at Rampart, are private speech, not government speech. Therefore, the district cannot deny Ms. Shumaker’s private, religious speech without violating the First Amendment.’
The claim that Shumaker’s First Amendment right was violated began brewing in August, when the senior’s first proposed religious design for her parking space was denied.
In an attempt to amend the design and make it acceptable to school guidelines while still being in line with her religious values, Shumaker asked if she could just include an abbreviated verse in the parking spot along with a neutral design.
She texted a teacher to ask if that would be allowed, and the teacher allegedly discouraged her, saying: ‘Yeah, no abbreviated verse. Not sure if it would get approved. Let me ask.’
The demand letter said Shumaker was afraid the second design would be rejected and she would forfeit her spot, so she told the teacher she would use a different one.
She ultimately painted a group of fish with one swimming against the crowd, a design she said quietly represents her faith.
The fish symbol was used by early members of the Christian faith as a way to discretely tell others they were believers, especially during periods of intense persecution under the Roman Empire.
A statement from First Liberty Institute said Shumaker ‘has every right to express her faith. What she displays on her parking spot is her private speech.
Seniors at Rampart High School are allowed to decorate their parking spots, but the school has strict guidelines about what is allowed
First Liberty Institute provided these examples of parking spaces with religious imagery painted by students at other schools in the district to highlight inconsistencies in policies
‘Students don’t give up their First Amendment rights at school. A student’s private religious expression is constitutionally protected even when it occurs on school property.’
The demand letter concluded by calling for the district to reverse Rampart High School’s denial of Shumaker’s religious designs and to permanently remove its ‘unconstitutional policy.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Rampart High School for comment.
Shumaker told KKTV 11 News, ‘My identity, everything about me, is through Christ. I just wanted that to be represented in my parking space.’
First Liberty Institute said Shumaker was inspired by another client, Sabrina Steffans, whom the firm represented in a similar case.
Steffans, another high school senior, was allowed to paint her parking space with religious imagery after First Liberty represented her and was able to reverse the rejection of her designs at a school near Buffalo, New York.
Shumaker said she hopes her story encourages other students to stand up for what they believe in.
