The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that an elementary school in New York violated the free speech rights of a Christian organization when it barred the group from holding after-school Bible and religion classes for children.
While many news reports have indicated justices reversed the lower court and ruled in favor of the Good News Club- affiliated with a Christian missionary organization known as Child Evangelism Fellowship- based on the separation of church and state, the majority actually based the decision on the First Amendment’s free speech guarantee. The majority ruled that the school discriminated against the club in violation of the Constitution.
In the opinion written by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, the majority said issues in the case were similar to its holding in 1993 in Lamb’s Chapel vs. Center Moriches Union Free School District, where a school district wrongly precluded a private group from presenting films at the school based solely on the religious perspective of the films.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Associate Justices Sandra Day O’Conner, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy joined the opinion. Justice Stephen Breyer joined only part of the majority’s opinion and Scalia wrote a concurring opinion.
Justice John Paul Stevens filed a dissenting opinion. Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg issued a separate dissent.
Since 1992, Milford Central School has had a policy allowing district residents to use school facilities “for social, civic and recreational meetings and entertainment events, provided that such uses shall be nonexclusive and shall be open to the general public.”
Policy restrictions
It also states that school premises “shall not be used by an individual or organization for religious purposes.”
In 1996, the Good News Club applied to use the school’s facilities.
After reviewing the club’s program material, Robert McGruder, interim superintendent of schools in the Milford School District, said the proposed activities were not merely discussion of secular subjects from a religious perspective, but “were in fact the equivalent of religious instruction itself.”
The Milford Board of Education denied the application, and the club filed a complaint with a U.S. district court in March 1997, charging its free speech, equal protection and religious freedom rights and been violated. The district ruled in favor of the school and the 2nd Circuit upheld the ruling.
The Baptist Join Committee (BJC) filed a brief in support of the club as did the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).
The BJC issued a statement following the decision. BJC General Counsel Holly Hollman said, “A policy that allows events pertaining to the welfare of the community, including the discussion of character and morals, cannot exclude the club based upon the manner in which it leads its discussions.”
“The court recognized that the separation of church and state does not require the exclusion of the Good News Club,” she said.
ERLC president Richard Land said: This decision is a victory for everyone who believes in true religious freedom. It is simply unconstitutional for any government to give access to nonschool groups and then decide to bar access to other groups merely because they are religious.
(ABP)
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