Tuesday, April 24, 2012

NYC church policy challenged in court filing


The New York City ban on religious worship in public schools violates both the free exercise of religion and the prohibition on government establishment of religion, a Southern Baptist entity and other groups contend in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in federal court.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission joined local and national religious organizations in the April 20 brief that urges a federal court in New York to invalidate a Board of Education policy that bars churches and other faith groups from meeting in schools. The brief, written by the Christian Legal Society, also calls on the court to permanently block the policy from being enforced.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the ban was constitutional, affecting dozens of churches, including seven Southern Baptist congregations, that used public schools for corporate worship. Some moved their meetings to other facilities. Read more

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