Teen Faces Jail Time for Jesus Joke

A Pennsylvania teen is facing dire consequences for a dumb prank involving simulated oral sex and a Jesus statue. A 14-year-old faces up to two years in juvenile detention for posting a Facebook photo that shows him humping the statue’s face. A seldom-invoked 1972 Pennsylvania law criminalizes “defacing, damaging, polluting, or otherwise physically mistreating in a way that the actor knows will outrage the sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover the action.” LGBT advocacy nonprofit Truth Wins Out has argued that the law is unconstitutional because it violates the establishment clause (“Congress shall shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”).