Everyone but churches can use NYC schools – will the mayor do anything about it?

Last updated on: March 30, 2015 at 10:40 pm by CNA Daily News

Everyone but churches can use NYC schools – will the mayor do anything about it? 2015-03-30T22:40:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

New York City, N.Y., Mar 30, 2015 / 04:40 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Churches using New York City public school facilities for worship services are in limbo after the Supreme Court declined to review their case against a city prohibition on their doing so.

“Any community group can meet in New York City’s school buildings during non-school hours for any purpose – except for religious groups meeting to worship God,” Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, stated in reaction to the decision. ADF had petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case.

Lorence called the city’s law “nothing more than religious segregation – the kind of segregation the mayor has said he opposes.”

The law in question is a 20 year-old regulation of the New York City Board of Education that prohibits public school facilities from use for “religious worship services or as a house of worship.”

Two pastors at the Bronx Household of Faith, Jack Roberts and Robert Hall, led the latest legal effort against this regulation. After their initial victory at the district court level, churches began using public school facilities.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision last April. Now that the Supreme Court has refused to hear the case, the federal circuit court decision stands.

The question now is if churches using the facilities will be evicted. Mayor De Blasio stated last year that churches “deserve access” to the schools, but he has yet to overturn the board of education’s law.

New York City allows for many uses of public school facilities, including by labor unions, dance recitals, community meetings, and even filming of television shows Law and Order and Sex and the City.

Churches have contributed much to the city’s welfare, insisted ADF’s senior counsel David Cortman, so the city should not single them out for refusal in use of public facilities.

“The Education Department’s argument that it must ban worship services to protect children from religion – as though it were a disease – falls apart on many levels, not the least of which is how willing the city has been to accept the free help churches willingly offer,” Cortman said.

The Second Circuit Court ruled last April that, contrary to the district court’s ruling, the city did not have to allow the churches to use the school facilities under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise clause and Establishment clause.

The two clauses state that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The circuit court found that, while churches were using subsidized buildings for worship services, “the Free Exercise Clause, however, has never been understood to require government to finance a subject’s exercise of religion.”

The court also ruled that if the city thinks it risks a lawsuit based on the Establishment Clause for allowing religious services to take place in subsidized public schools, it can prohibit such services from taking place there so as to avoid appearing to “establish” a religion.

“History is replete with examples of churches using public buildings for worship,” ADF responded in its petition for writ of certiorari, noting that “the framers of the Constitution attended church services in the U.S. Capitol building, churches met in the federal court in New York City during the Great Awakening, and 49 of 50 of the largest school districts in the nation allow such practices today.”

In his lone dissent in the 2-1 federal court decision, Circuit Judge John M. Walker, Jr. argued that allowing churches to use the schools “is hardly the financing of that entity,” and that prohibiting them from doing so violates the Free Exercise clause.

He added that fees are charged for use of the facilities for all groups, so the law “is not a government subsidy.”

Furthermore, he argued that other religious activities are permitted in the schools by the city, such as meetings, hymn singing, and prayer, as long as it is not led by a religious figure. This undermines the city’s case of not appearing to “establish” a religion, he said.

Previous Post

March 30, 2015

Cardinal George returns to hospital for routine care

Next Post

March 30, 2015 In open letter, 500 British priests ask Synod to stand firm on Church teaching

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, 'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life'?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul Peter James John