Christian Dancers Win Religious Liberty Suit Against Calif. City Officials
by Ed Thomas
November 1, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The City of Chula Vista, California, will provide annual "First Amendment training" to police officers and all other employees as part of a lawsuit settlement. The suit was filed after the city prohibited a Christian dance performance in public. The city will also pay damages and attorney's fees, to six young girls and their dance instructor who were prevented by a recreation supervisor from performing a dance routine at a holiday festival in December because of the Christian message on their tee shirts and their Christian-themed music.
The American Family Association Center for Law and Policy, which filed suit on the dancers' behalf, reached the out-of-court settlement with Chula Vista. Senior Trial Attorney Brian Fahling said the agreement was a good outcome that shows municipalities that there are constitutional rights to religious expression, even in public forums.
"Oftentimes," Fahling notes, public officials "act like it's going to be a violation of the establishment clause if they let Christians perform in a community function." But in fact, he says, "they are required under the Constitution to allow Christians to participate just like they would anybody else."
The consent decree in the case states that the city violated the dance group's rights under the establishment, free exercise, free speech, and equal protection clauses of the Constitution of the United States. Fahling notes that the City of Chula Vista was cooperative early on in correcting their mistake; however, he says the consent decree is important to make sure the terms of the settlement are carried out.
"In the absence of judicial supervision, it's very easy to kind of slip back into the old habits again," the AFA Law Center attorney observes. "So we wanted to ensure that that didn't happen," he explains, "because administrations change, and people come and go. It was important from our perspective to ensure that we had something memorialized."
Violating the constitutional rights of the Christian dance troupe will cost the City of Chula Vista $31,000 in damages and attorney fees. The consent order entered in a San Diego federal court requires the payment and the annual First Amendment training for all city workers.
Fahling is pleased with the settlement, not only for his client's sake but because of the message it sends to government officials and to people of faith whose free expression is being threatened or censored in the public square. When Christians stand up for their constitutional rights, the pro-family lawyer notes, everyone benefits.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
