For two decades, NYC has been tangling with a Christian Evangelical church about whether the Bronx Household of Faith can hold services in public schools during non-school hours. Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal appeals court, ruled that the city can in fact restrict religious groups from using public schools for services.
The NYCLU's executive director Donna Lieberman applauded the ruling, saying, "Today’s Court of Appeals decision is a victory for religious freedom. Our Constitution gives all New Yorkers the right to worship - or not - as they choose. That vital freedom depends on preserving the separation of church and state."
The case started back in 1995 and, during the Bloomberg administration, the city was active with it. It had even reached the Supreme Court, sort of: The nation's highest court refused to hear it in 2011, which let an earlier Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling backing NYC's stance (to not allow religious services) stand. But a lawyer for the Bronx Household of Faith argued, "(The city) allows anything pertaining to the welfare of the community—that ranges from labor union meetings, to Alcoholics Anonymous groups, to filming episodes of ‘Law & Order’ - and one of the things prohibited is private worship services. When these school buildings stand empty on Sunday mornings, it benefits the community to open them up and allow religious groups to meet."
In spite of that, a federal injunction in 2012 allowed services to continue.
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence, which was representing the Bronx Household of Faith, issued a statement, "The First Amendment prohibits New York City from singling out worship services and excluding them from empty school buildings. The reason is because the buildings are generally available to all individuals and community groups for any activity ‘pertaining to the welfare of the community.’ There is no subsidy of churches here. Churches and religious groups pay the same uniform rates that everyone else does to use the schools. We are seriously considering an appeal in this case, either to all of the judges on the 2nd Circuit or to the U.S. Supreme Court."
However, the NYCLU has adamantly argued that allowing religious groups to worship in schools actually violates the First Amendment. Executive director Lieberman also said:
“This case is about a group of about 160 religious congregations that were dominating public schools across New York City Sunday after Sunday, year after year. When a school is converted to a church in this way, it sends a powerful message to students and the community at large that the government favors that particular church. Children who are not part of the favored congregation feel diminished, and both the church members and the community stop seeing the distinction between the church and the school. That hurts kids, that hurts people who aren’t members of the church, and that hurts one of our nation’s most cherished principles.
“The Court of Appeals should be applauded for doing the right thing, and the Department of Education and the new administration should stand strong and prevent our public schools from being converted into churches.”
Funny thing: Mayor de Blasio actually supports schools allowing religious groups to worship. The NY Times noted that he said in 2012, "The country was founded by people who knew they were not all alike, but they all had to be given the right to express their faith. That is what this country is about."
And at a press conference today, the mayor—who had not seen the ruling yet—told reporters, "I stand by my belief that a faith organization playing by the same rules as any community nonprofit deserves access. You know, they have to go through the same application process, wait their turn for space, pay the same rent. But I think they deserve access. They play a very, very important role in terms of providing social services and other important community services, and I think they deserve that right."
