ACLU, baseball team settle discount flap

HAGERSTOWN, Md. – The American Civil Liberties Union and a minor-league baseball team in Maryland have settled a lawsuit over a team promotion giving discounted admission rates to fans who brought church bulletins to Sunday games.

Under the terms of the agreement, signed Jan. 11, the Hagerstown Suns agreed to extend the $2 price break to families who bring bulletins from any civic or nonprofit organizations. The ACLU agreed it would not challenge the discount promotion through state action or a federal lawsuit, the Associated Press reported.

Plaintiffs in the case argued the team’s promotion violated laws against religious discrimination in place of public accommodation.

The case stemmed from a complaint to the Maryland Commission on Human Relations from agnostic activist Carl Silverman, of Waynesboro, Pa., who said he and his family were not given the $2 admission discount at a Suns game in April 1998 because they did not have a church bulletin.

In October 1999, an administrative law judge had ruled in favor of the Suns, noting Silverman had been offered an extra church bulletin by a ticket seller.