Kent school Bible club dispute becomes a federal case

Kent school Bible club dispute becomes a federal case
Court fight centers on 'Christians only' membership limit

It seemed a simple idea: two high school girls who wanted to start a Bible club at Kentridge High School. But the once-quiet grumbling over their Christians-only membership plan has now erupted into a full-scale federal case.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, meeting in Seattle, sat rapt as lawyers argued on the one hand for religious freedom and, on the other, against allowing discrimination in a public school district.

Five years ago, when Sarice Undis, a senior at Kentridge, and Julianne Stewart, a junior, approached the student body that charters clubs, they could never have dreamed that "Truth in Bible" would create such an uproar.

Their plan was to study the Bible, associate with other Christians and "express the love of Christ and his soul-saving grace through character, speech, conduct and behavior," according to court briefs.

But for official membership and voting rights in the club, students would have to swear allegiance to Jesus Christ by signing a statement affirming "the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God."

At that, Kentridge's Associated Student Body drew the line, and without a charter, Truth was denied certain fundraising, yearbook and advertising rights, though it could meet on campus.

"The district has no problem with religious clubs," said Chuck Lind, a lawyer for Kent, who attended the hearing and pointed out afterward that the district has two other Bible groups, open to all students.

The difficulty, he said, was Truth's exclusive, Christians-only criteria for membership.

Undice and Stewart sued nonetheless, complaining that their rights to free speech, free association and equal access were being violated, and in 2003, the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund picked up their case.

By allowing anyone of any faith to become a voting member of Truth, Alliance said, the very essence of the girls' group -- its Christian identity -- would be compromised. Both Undice and Stewart graduated from the district years ago, but another student has taken up their cause.

"The key issue is whether or not a school has the right to force student organizations to open their clubs to everyone," said Tim Chandler, litigation counsel with Alliance, an organization with lawyers in many states who work to defend religious freedom.

"In this case, you've got a Christian student club that wants to limit their voting members to Christians, and the school is telling them they must allow non-Christians to be members and officers. That violates their First Amendment rights. A Democratic student club is allowed to exclude Republicans from joining their organization and running it and voting, and our clients are simply asking for the same rights for their club. We think the law is pretty clear on this issue."

A lower court found otherwise, siding with the Kent schools in a previous decision.

But Truth is not the first Washington-based religion case to land before federal judges. In 1993, Renton schools were the genesis for a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found that student religious groups could meet at public high schools as long as they were not involved with the curriculum.

On Thursday, Alliance lawyer Nate Kellum pointed out that Kentridge has 31 student groups on campus -- 30 of which are non-religious -- and that only Truth is "relegated to second-class, second-tier status." Truth merely seeks access to the same student funds and privileges that other school groups enjoy, he said.

By that point, the three judges had already listened to 2 1/2 hours of argument on four other cases, but they appeared uniquely engaged by the religious club debate.

"Why is it that religion is singled out?" Judge Raymond Fisher asked Mike Tierney, who was representing the Kent schools. The district's Gay-Straight Alliance, for example, exists mainly for those "who believe in a gay way of life," Fisher said.

He also noted that students need not sign Truth's statement of faith to attend club meetings.

Tierney countered that a public school district is "an arm of the state" and as such cannot sanction any group that excludes certain races or religions from membership.

"I do not believe a group of skinheads could create an Aryan club and call it 'God Only Loves White People' " and expect the student body to charter it, he said.

Any club has every right to exist and meet on campus, he added, but not every club has the right to recognition by the Associated Student Body.

"Separate, but equal?" Fisher snapped.

"Essentially, yes," Tierney said.