Posted on 09/20/2006 5:15:17 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Government libraries can block religious groups from worshipping in public meeting rooms, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The decision overturns a lower court order allowing a Christian group to pray in a Contra Costa County library.
The Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries, which initially was rejected from holding prayer services at the county's Antioch branch, had won a court order allowing them to pray in meeting rooms open to other groups. A federal judge said it had a First Amendment right of religion to use the public's facilities.
But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling Wednesday in a 2-1 decision.
"Prohibiting Faith Center's religious worship services from the Antioch meeting room is a permissible exclusion of a category of speech," Judge Richard Paez ruled.
In dissent, Judge Richard Tallman said the county went too far.
"Rather than adopting a policy of neutrality and placing reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on every group that uses the library meeting rooms, the county has gone to great lengths to exclude a non-disruptive community group based on the views it wishes to express," Tallman wrote.
Contra Costa County had appealed the lower court's decision, arguing that religious groups have a right of free access to its public library facilities in the Bay Area, but allowing prayer services would mean taxpayers would be subsidizing religious exercises.
"Religious worship services is a category of speech that we are allowed to exclude," said Kelly Flanagan, a county attorney. "Had we said Christians can use this but Jews can't, that would be discrimination."
The Alliance Defense Fund, which is defending the church group, called the decision "astounding."
"Religious people ... whether they're Jewish, Muslim or Christian or any other faith under the sun, this is not what the First Amendment was intended to do, to authorize censorship of speech in public," said Gary McCaleb, an ADF attorney.
The group, he said, would consider appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court or asking the appeals court to reconsider.
In December, the Bush administration weighed in on the case, filing a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the church. The administration said the government "has an interest in enforcement of First Amendment principles providing equal treatment of persons irrespective of their religious beliefs."
The county's policy allows the public to use free meeting rooms at its libraries, but prohibits "religious services." The Sierra Club, Narcotics Anonymous and even the East Contra Costa Democratic Club have used the county's library facilities.
The case began in 2004 when Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries told the county that it wished to hold a "prayer, praise and worship" service that would be open to the public. The group held one session before the county banned it from having others.
The church group sued, demanding equal treatment and claiming it was being discriminated against because of its speech.
The case is Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries v. Glover, 05-16132.
I guarantee you that the 9th will find an exception for Muslims...
Mid-90s, I was having to battle the local "grammar" school who was preventing a Girl Scout troop from using the facility. The "God" thing was offensive to them, no doubts. They lost, we won. But obviously, only for a time.
Is this the same court of appeals that said libraries must allow street bums to sleep and stink up a building???
I guess that means they can bar environmental meetings too, since they are also faith based.
Well of course...after all, it's the Ninth Circus.
Group A wants to meet in a library. Group B wants to meet in a library. Group A is allowed and group B is denied. The reason? Group B wants to pray. Another blatant case of discrimination based on religion brought to you by the 9th Circus. Constitutional rights guaranteed to every minority in the US are routinely denied to religious groups.
Yet phallic art is OK http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=15381 "The piece, which featured 21 brightly colored ceramic penises hanging from a clothesline, was stolen from the Boulder Public Library and replaced with an American flag on Nov. 10. The library had refused to remove the artwork, which was part of an exhibit sponsored by a local battered women’s shelter in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month."
God, why would any religion want to use a government anything?
correction- that wasn't a court case, but it would probably be allowed by this court... It seems the 1st Amendment is ONLY about some speech, and not religion.
why do I have this feeling I'm being choked?
Bet they won't ~ but they won't do it again.
This decision won't destroy anything because it'll be overturned easily.
"I guess that means they can bar environmental meetings too, since they are also faith based."
As are many NA meetings.
Well of course! Our constitution calls for freedom FROM religion doesn't it? /sarcasm
Would Muslims be barred as well I wonder?
Shouldn't the people who pay taxes to build the libraries have some say in this or do we just have to do what three perverts in San Francisco (of all places) say? This isn't America. Seig Hiel!
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