New York, NY, April 3, 2014 …The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed a “well-reasoned” Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the constitutionality of a New York City School Board policy prohibiting rent-free use of public schools for religious worship.

The Court specifically found that the policy does not violate the Free Exercise or Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment, and resolved a 20-year-old lawsuit which began after the Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical church, sued the City of New York so that it could continue to hold Sunday morning worship services in P.S. 15.

Evan R. Bernstein, ADL New York Regional Director, issued the following statement:

The public schools in our religiously and ethnically diverse city should not be used as houses of worship.  It is important for New York City schools not to convey a message of religious exclusion and divide residents along religious lines.

We welcome this well-reasoned decision and believe it strikes the proper balance between free exercise of religion and the improper mixing of church and state.  In particular, it affirms a long-standing legal precedent allowing public schools and other public entities to proscribe activities that could result in violations of the First Amendment.

The policy at issue allows religious groups to use public school facilities rent-free during non-school hours for multiple activities, including teaching religion, reading and discussing the Bible, advocating religious views, and saying prayers.  However, the policy does draw the line at using public schools for religious worship services or as a house of worship.

The law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP prepared the friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of ADL.

 

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.  Follow us on Twitter: @ADL_NY