Religious Liberty Advocates® A ministry of the Christian Legal Society
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RELEASE:    December 11, 2002

CONTACT:  Nathan A. Adams tel. 703-642-1070 ext. 3504

COURT STOPS SCHOOL'S DISCRIMINATION AGAINST RELIGIOUS GROUP

DISTRICT MUST DISTRIBUTE GROUP'S FLYERS

A New Jersey federal District Court yesterday ordered Stafford Township School District to stop discriminating against Good News Club, an after-school Bible club for elementary school children.

The club filed suit against the school district after repeated requests for equal treatment were turned down. Although the school chose to distribute the flyers of secular community groups like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, it refused to send home Good News Club's permission slips simply because of the club's religious character. United States District Court Judge Mary L. Cooper ruled yesterday that the school district must provide Good News Club the same privileges given to other community-sponsored student clubs.

"The court agreed that the Constitution doesn't require public schools to discriminate against religion," said Nathan Adams, Good News Club's attorney. "We weren't asking for special treatment, just equal treatment," continued Adams, who is Chief Litigation Counsel for Christian Legal Society.

Because students can only attend Good News Club with parental permission, the school district's restrictions would have led to limited attendance and prevented parents from receiving information about all after-school options for their children.

"Parents are entitled to learn about opportunities for their children," said Adams. "Public school districts shouldn't censor the information that goes home. The court's decision is a real victory for parents," continued Adams.

In a similar case last year, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Good News Club v. Milford, that public elementary schools must give religious groups the same access to meeting space that is provided to secular groups. But the decision has not ended all of the disparate treatment faced by religious organizations like Child Evangelism Fellowship, a national organization that sponsors Good News Clubs around the country. "We've been amazed how many school districts have refused to follow the spirit of the Court's decision," said Adams who currently represents more than a dozen Good News Clubs. "Many school districts now give religious groups equal access to meeting space, but deny them an equal means of communicating with parents about opportunities for their children."

The case is Child Evangelism Fellowship of New Jersey, Inc. v. Stafford Township Sch. Dist., Civil Action No. 02-4549 (MLC).

Christian Legal Society is a nationwide association of Christian lawyers, law students, law professors, and judges. CLS' public interest law firm, Religious Liberty Advocates, works through the legal system to protect the religious liberty of all Americans.