Supreme Court preserves New York ban on worship services in schools

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left intact New York City's ban on religious worship services inside school buildings after hours.

In a brief order, the court said it would not hear an appeal filed by the Bronx Household of Faith, a conservative Congregational church. The court's action leaves intact an April 2014 ruling by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the ban.

The appeals court had said the New York City Board of Education's regulation, created so the city would not be perceived as endorsing religious activity in a public forum, "was consistent with its constitutional duties."

That court said the ban was a reasonable way to abide by the so-called Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which provides for separation of church and state.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/30/us-usa-court-religion-idUSKBN0MQ1HH20150330

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US | Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:02am EDT
WASHINGTON | BY LAWRENCE HURLEY

[wolfie001]

1. This seems pretty big!

Very Progressive indeed!

[Lamonte]

2. School prayer

This issue of school prayer is again in the news. We provide public schools to teach children to think, and churches (with Sunday schools) to teach them to pray. If children are encouraged to pray in schools, it will blur the distinction between the two institutions and children in their confusion, may think in church. Fundamentalists might want to consider where this could lead.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. That's a punch back against the

Theocrats amongst us.

[SoapBox]

4. Wow...I'm surprised...

And pleased.

[RoccoR5955]

5. I guess the conservative nutbags

are loose in NYC as well. They must have a lot of money, or a lot of clout with the religious nuts in the south.
It is quite refreshing to see them defeated.
When I went to public schools in NYC, we were never allowed to pray in school, but we were given an afternoon each week where we could go and attend religious educational classes at the church of our choice. I think that this is the best way to approach this.

[Princess Turandot]

6. FYI This wasn't a classic 'prayer in public school' case. It involved the renting of a public....

school meeting space on Sunday mornings when no school activities were going on.

NYC Board of Education set a policy for use of public school facilities by outside groups outside of school hours, as permitted by NYS law. Districts are allowed to set their own policy about what groups they would allow to do so. The NYC BOE decided not to rent space to any religious entity and thus, denied Bronx Household of Faith's application.

So they sued, saying that the religious exclusion violated their first amendment rights. In 1994. The case has been in various courts since then, and involves more than one original case. The last case heard, decided in 2011 by the 2nd Circuit Ct. of Appeals in favor of the NYC BOE, is the one SCOTUS refused to hear on appeal.

The 2nd Circuit Ct. of Appeals opinion: http://www2.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/Bronx_Household_of_Faith_v_Bd_of_Education_of_New_York_650_F3d_30