San Diego Settles Church's Lawsuit Over Unfair Rental Fees
by Allie Martin
November 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The City of San Diego, California, has agreed to stop charging higher fees to religious groups that rent government facilities for various functions. An attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) says this victory highlights the importance of churches and religious groups understanding their constitutional rights.Several years ago, Canyon Ridge Baptist Church filed a lawsuit after members discovered the city had been charging higher rental fees for churches than those charged to non-religious community groups. Last month, attorneys with the ADF secured a settlement agreement, under the terms of which the city must revamp its policies to stipulate that religious organizations may rent public facilities on the same terms as any other group.
Tim Chandler, litigation counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, says church officials and other religious group members must become aware of what the law says about equal access. "Churches need to understand their rights, and they need to know that they have the right to use public facilities on the same terms and conditions as everyone else," he says.
"There's this notion of a separation of church and state," Chandler notes, "and a lot of times government officials believe that that means they can't allow religious groups to use public facilities or that they have to charge them a higher rate than they do other groups -- and that's simply not the case."
As a matter of fact, the ADF attorney points out, the Constitution actually requires that the government treat religious groups the same as any other community group. "You cannot single out religious groups for disfavorable treatment," he asserts, "and that's exactly what the city was doing here."
According to the law, landlords "should not treat Christian tenants any differently than other tenants, Chandler explains. "This is especially true when the landlord is the government," he says. "A city cannot single-out religious organizations for unequal treatment in comparison to other similarly situated groups."
The settlement of the suit brought by Canyon Ridge Baptist Church calls for the City of San Diego to refund the church all of the money that it overpaid in rent. "Free speech is not based on a sliding scale," Chandler says. "San Diego officials are doing the right thing in agreeing to correct this injustice."
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
