The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled yesterday an Arizona school district’s action prohibiting distribution of a flyer because it promoted religious classes was discriminatory and unconstitutional.
The Scottsdale Unified School District had prevented Joseph J. Hills from distributing a brochure promoting a summer camp for children even though it permitted the distribution of similar brochures from other nonprofit organizations. Hills’ camp included two Bible classes out of 19 offered.
In 2000, the American Center for Law and Justice filed suit against the district on behalf of Hills. According to ACLJ, the district told Hills it would consider permitting distribution of the brochures if he removed the descriptions of the Bible classes and removed graphics of the Bible and of a dove carrying an olive branch.
“We’re heartened by the decision because it represents a significant step in the ongoing struggle for equal rights for speakers with a religious message,” said Walter M. Weber, senior litigation counsel of ACLJ, in a statement. “The appeals court decision sends an important message about the constitutional rights of religious speakers. School districts cannot legally discriminate against the type of literature distributed at schools simply because that literature promotes an event that includes religious speech.”
In a unanimous decision issued yesterday, a three-judge panel ruled the actions of the school district were not only discriminatory, but unconstitutional as well. The appeals court relied on existing Supreme Court precedents to make its ruling, said ACLJ, including a 2001 decision in the Good News Club v. Milford Central School, which held that it was unconstitutional for a school district to prevent a Christian club from meeting on school premises after hours.
That case, the appeals court said, “teaches that speech discussing otherwise permissible subjects cannot be excluded from a limited public forum simply because the subject is discussed from a religious viewpoint. The District’s exclusion of Hills’ summer-camp brochure because it offered Bible classes from a Christian perspective does just that, and therefore constitutes impermissible viewpoint discrimination.”
“The Ninth Circuit got it right when they said this is unconstitutional discrimination against the Christian viewpoint and free speech,” said Gary McCaleb, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which helped fund the case. “Equal treatment of Christians and equal access for Christians in our public schools is long overdue.”
The action by the court comes just days after a federal lawsuit brought by high-school seniors in Le Mars, Iowa, forced school officials to restore a “moment of silence” the students had scheduled into their graduation ceremony. As reported by KTIV-TV, Superintendent Todd Wendt had stripped the event from the ceremony after two students complained it represented religion. The lawsuit appeared to have had an effect, and the ceremony will go forward as planned on Sunday.
