School Faces Suit For Imposing Unfair Fees on Christian Group
by Allie Martin
August 6, 2004
(AgapePress) - A Virginia school district is being sued after it charged a Christian club a fee for holding meetings on school property.Last year a representative of Child Evangelism Fellowship, which sponsors the Good News Club, applied to reserve a classroom in an elementary school in the Louisa County School District in Charlottesville, Virginia. Officials said the club could use the facility, but only if it paid an hourly rental fee. Meanwhile, other clubs such as 4-H and the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America, were allowed to use school facilities at no cost.
Mat Staver is president of Liberty Counsel, the litigation and policy organization that filed the lawsuit on the Christian club's behalf. He says the school district's actions in this incident are clearly in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
"Whether it's prohibiting access to a public facility because of your religious viewpoint or placing a discriminatory financial barrier in your path, both are unconstitutional," Staver says. "Equal access means equal treatment."The U.S. Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Virginia, have both previously ruled that a discriminatory fee policy against religious groups is unconstitutional. However, Staver says many public school officials are still treating religious groups unfairly.
The attorney says what often happens is, "even though the Supreme Court has ruled that religious groups can use public facilities just in the same way that secular organizations can, some of these school facilities are relenting on that aspect but saying they will charge you a fee for use, whereas the other secular groups are not being charged a discriminatory fee."
Staver wants schools and religious groups to understand that such blatantly unequal treatment is unlawful. In addition to filing the lawsuit on behalf of the Good News Club, Staver is also asking for a temporary injunction against the school district's policy so the club will be able to meet when the fall term begins a few weeks from now.
