Today at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Liberty Counsel is representing Child Evangelism Fellowship of Minnesota (CEF), the sponsor of Good News Clubs (GNC), against Minneapolis Special School District No. 1, for unfairly denying equal access and opportunity to after-school programs. CEF has been an approved member of the Minnesota Public Schools Community Partners since 2000 and participated in the after-school program from 2005-2009. In 2009, a school employee determined to revoke CEF’s after-school program because the GNC included prayer and “proselytizing.”
The law is crystal clear. Christian or other religious viewpoints are constitutionally protected. Public schools must provide equal access for Christian viewpoints and Christian clubs. There is no constitutional basis to discriminate between Good News Clubs and the Scouts or other similar groups that address similar subject matters. The First Amendment is a benefit, not a disability. Private speech endorsing religion is fully protected by the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.
Read our News Release for more details.
Order your own copy of Students' Rights on Public School Campuses
From the hallway to the classroom, from personal notes to final exam reports, from praying around the flagpole to praying before lunch, from wearing a cross to carrying a Bible, or from an after-school Bible study club to a graduation speech, students have the right to express their faith at school.
This booklet explains what you may and may not do, say, write, and wear to express your faith at school. Paperback, 8 pages.
