Trumbull Officials Wrong to Remove Mother Teresa Painting

The ACLU of Connecticut cautioned Trumbull officials about constitutional concerns associated with their decision to order the removal of a painting of Mother Teresa standing alongside other social justice heroes.

“[W]e wish to make clear that, given the speciousness of any copyright concerns, the removal of the painting raises serious First Amendment issues,” the ACLU of Connecticut wrote in a letter to First Selectman Timothy Herbst, who ordered the removal of the image.

The painting, which had been loaned by Dr. Richard Resnick, had been on display at the public library but was taken down following pressure from the Catholic fraternal organization, Knights of Columbus and its supporters.

The public justification for the removal, however, was copyright concerns over the use of Mother Teresa’s likeness, which the ACLU of Connecticut said were wrong. The organization wrote that courts have long since “made clear that the First Amendment protects ‘fictional or semi-fictional’ work against all statutory and common law infringement claims.”

The letter added, “The painting certainly falls within this definition. No reasonable viewer would suppose that it represents Mother Teresa literally marching in step with Margaret Sanger, Gloria Steinem and the other depicted women.”

The painting is expected to be placed back on display following an agreement that indemnifies the library. The ACLU-CT said it was, “pleased and relieved that the dispute over the display of the painting commissioned and loaned to the library by Dr. Resnick appears to have been resolved.”