Bible Clubs' Campus Access Okayed in Three States -- But Not in One California District
by Allie Martin and Jody Brown
August 26, 2004
(AgapePress) - An after-school Christian club for elementary age students has won major victories in three states.Recently the Good News Club received permission to distribute announcements in the Mona Shores School District in Muskegon, Michigan. In Miami, Ohio, the Trotwood Madison School District decided to allow Good News Clubs to meet on campus after Orlando-based Liberty Counsel sent a letter detailing the constitutional rights of such clubs. And in Cromwell, Connecticut, school officials backed down from an earlier policy charging a Good News Club a fee to use school facilities. In all three cases, the clubs were given approval to distribute flyers on school campuses.
Mat Staver | |
Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver says many cases are being settled without legal action. "The good news is that as school starts in these states, Child Evangelism Fellowship [sponsors of the Good News Clubs] will be able to have their after-school club to be able to reach out to elementary school students, and to be able to share the gospel on equal access with equal treatment as the other groups," the attorney says.Staver says school administrators must realize that Christian clubs have constitutional rights to use public facilities without discrimination. And Staver expects more and more schools to "capitulate," as he puts it, because federal court precedent is beginning to go in favor of such clubs.
"One of the things that we see as a common story is that individuals will still get stonewalled," the attorney explains, "and [when] it comes to the point that a federal lawsuit is the next step, these schools begin to see the light -- and they ultimately, in most cases now, are starting to follow the First Amendment."
Getting the 'Bear' Facts
Evidently the Bear Valley Unified School District in California is one of those that has not gotten the message yet. In fact, the district contends that state law requires it to discriminate against religious groups -- and that is why it feels it has to charge Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) a fee for using school facilities.
CEF applied in December 2003 to use the district's facilities for after-school meetings of a Good News Club. The district, however, maintains it is required to charge CEF direct costs for use of facilities because, according to the state Education Code, they "prohibit the use of any public funds or public facilities for sectarian purpose."
Staver says that violates the U.S. Constitution. "Whether the government bans a group from accessing its facilities or places a financial barrier on the group based on its religious viewpoint, the outcome is the same -- the Constitution has been violated. Equal access means equal treatment," he says.
Because of the district's strict interpretation of the Education Code, the club did not meet at all in the 2003-2004 school year. Yesterday, Liberty Counsel filed a temporary restraining order against the district, requesting an emergency hearing seeking a court order to allow CEF to use the facilities in the upcoming school year.
According to Staver, the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that the First Amendment to the Constitution "trumps" any state law that discriminates against speech based on its religious viewpoint. School districts, he says, are not excused from the First Amendment guarantee of free speech simply by claiming that a state law requires suppression of religious expression.
