The American Civil Liberties Union is talking to the Manhattan School District about just how far a student can go in practicing satanic beliefs.
Cliff Cookman, 17, says he is an ordained satanic priest and wears a priest's collar and a necklace with an inverted pentagram to Manhattan High School. The inverted pentagram, known as a "Sigil of Baphomet," is symbolic of evil.
But the staff at the high school did not go along with Cookman's insistence that he be allowed to wear a red robe on special occasions.
John Simpson, ACLU general counsel, said Cookman contacted the ACLU last fall with concerns about his religious rights. He declined to elaborate.
Cookman said Simpson has advised him not to comment.
Cookman, however, discussed his situation in a Jan. 24 letter with the high school's Mentor newspaper.
He said classmates harassed him because he wore the priest's collar and inverted pentagram necklace. Cookman also said teachers refused his request to refer to him as "the Reverend Cookman."
Simpson said he and Cookman were negotiating with the school district's attorney, Dick Seaton. No legal action has been taken.
"We want to make sure that his religious needs can be accommodated under the First Amendment," Simpson said.
Seaton confirmed Tuesday that school district officials had been talking with Simpson and Cookman for several weeks.
School officials have balked at letting Cookman wear the red robe. The issue came up March 11 when Cookman told principal Teresa Miller that he planned to wear the robe the next day, on his 17th birthday.
Miller said she told Cookman school rules prohibited wearing such a garment, both because he could conceal a weapon under it and he could trip on it.
But Cookman arrived at school on his birthday wearing the robe and white and black face paint. He left after he was told he needed to change clothes.
"He told us ahead of time he was going to wear the robe, and he knew it was inappropriate," Miller said.
Cookman told The Manhattan Mercury at the time: "This is how I celebrate my holidays."
He promised to wear the robe again on May 1, though the significance of that date was unclear.