[OPLINLIST] FYI on Church Use of Library Meeting Rooms

[Kent Oliver]

Court Says Libraries Can Bar Worship
By DAVID KRAVETSThe Associated Press
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; 10:57 PM 
SAN FRANCISCO -- Government libraries can block religious groups from
worshipping in public meeting rooms, a federal appeals court ruled
Wednesday.
The decision came from a case involving the Faith Center Church
Evangelistic Ministries, a Christian group which won a court order
allowing them to hold a "prayer, praise and worship" service in meeting
rooms open to other groups at a Contra Costa County library branch. 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 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.
The Alliance Defense Fund, which is defending the church group, called
the decision "astounding." The group, he said, would consider appealing
to the U.S. Supreme Court or asking the appeals court to reconsider.
"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 county's policy allows the public to use free meeting rooms at its
libraries, but prohibits "religious services." Groups such as the Sierra
Club, Narcotics Anonymous and the East Contra Costa Democratic Club have
used the county's library facilities.
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."
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."
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.




Kent Oliver, Executive Director
Stark County District Library
715 Market Ave., N., Canton, OH 44702
W: 330 458 2710 FAX: 330 455 9596
KOliver at starklibrary.org
"The America I loved still exists in the front desks of public
libraries."  Kurt Vonnegut




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