Tuesday, ADF asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the federal appeals court in New York City allowing the Board of Education there to single out religious worship services run by private groups, and exclude them from meeting in the public schools during non-school hours, when other community groups are free to meet. We have discussed this case previously here and here.

The petition for a writ of certiorari ADF filed argues that the NYC school policy violates the First Amendment. Here is a sample of the arguments we make:

The Second Circuit’s decision sets forth an unprecedented dichotomy of First Amendment law – the only difference between an allowable expressive use and a forbidden expressive use in this case is a theological one: does the expression constitute a “worship service”? This is not a constitutional criterion for excluding speech. Private speakers may gather for a meeting that contains singing, prayer, preaching and ceremony, but if the private group labels its meeting a “religious worship service,” it is suddenly forbidden.

At this point, we expect the Supreme Court to decide whether to hear the case on November 22. Stay tuned.