The situation leading to this lawsuit started when Antonio's teacher instructed the class to draw a poster showing their understanding of the environment. Antonio's first poster had several religious figures and contained the statement at the bottom of the poster, "The only way to save the world." Antonio was expressing his belief that God was the only way to save the environment. After this poster was rejected because of its religious content, he was forced to create a second poster.

Antonio's second poster contained various cutout figures and other artistic work. On the right side were children holding hands around a globe, people recycling trash, and children picking up garbage. On the left side of the poster was a bearded man wearing a robe kneeling with one knee to the ground and hands stretched toward the sky. To Antonio, this figure was Jesus, although the figure was not identified. This poster was displayed for part of one day on the cafeteria wall along with 80 other student posters, but unlike the other kindergarten posters, Antonio's poster was folded in half so that the figure of Jesus could not be seen.

In 2000, New York federal judge Norman Mordue ruled that the school had the right to censor the poster because of "church and state" concerns. In 2001, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision 3-0 and sent the case back to the trial court. In 2004, Judge Mordue again ruled in favor of the school district, but was again reversed 3-0 in 2005, when the appeals court ruled that public schools may not censor a student's viewpoint on a permissible subject matter when it is responsive to a school assignment or program. A trial was held before Judge Mordue in January 2007. In the most recent ruling in October 2008, Judge Mordue ruled once again that public school officials had the right to censor the poster. Liberty Counsel then filed the current appeal.

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: "Students may present religious themes in homework and artwork. Despite the federal guidelines on religion in public schools which state that students may include religious themes in art assignments, the school officials insisted on folding Antonio Peck's poster in half so that the figure they interpreted to be Jesus could not been seen. What a terrible message to send to young students that everything under the sun is permissible so long as it is not Christian. The educators need educating about the Constitution and American history."