Calif. church shut out of library meeting room appeals to Supreme Court

Calif. church shut out of library meeting room appeals to Supreme Court

Christian legal public-interest groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in a legal case that centers on the restriction of a California ministry's access to a public library's meeting room. They say the U.S. Constitution doesn't allow singling out of religious groups by type for the use of facilities.

Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries, which is based in Sacramento, was prohibited from returning to the Contra Costa County Library for use of its community room after an initial time, citing a policy that does not allow religious services there.

A 2005 lawsuit filed in federal court failed to win a decision in the church's favor with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, despite an amicus brief favoring the church's position submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice. The church has now appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Christian Legal Society, CATO Institute, and Eagle Forum have all filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting them.

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which is acting as church counsel, says the Constitution does not allow government officials to act as judges of the line between "free speech" and "free worship" -- and also does not allow singling out of groups using a public facility like the Contra Costa Library because their meetings contain religious speech.

ADF attorney Benjamin Bull says the 9th Circuit's decision "jettisoned" three decades of legal rulings favoring equal access to public facilities, and says he is hopeful the nation's highest court will uphold religious liberty and reject what he describes as "this unconstitutional form of discrimination."