Richmond, USA - A South Carolina school district's policies denying a religious club the free use of meeting space violate the First Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Dec. 15 that the policies gave administrators at Anderson School District Five too much leeway in deciding which groups would have to pay for use of school property.
The panel ordered the district to refund $1,545 that the Child Evangelism Fellowship of South Carolina paid over two years to rent meeting space for its "Good News Clubs." The nondenominational clubs, open to children ages 5-12, conducted Bible lessons and other religious activities.
The policy included a phrase allowing the district to "waive any or all charges as determined to be in the district's best interest." The policy was later amended to eliminate the "best interest" provision but continued waiving the fee for groups with a long history of meeting on school property for free.
CEF sued after school officials refused its requests for a fee waiver. U.S. District Judge Henry M. Herlong Jr. dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the district had applied the "best interest" provision in a viewpoint-neutral fashion.
However, Appeals Court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote in the unanimous opinion that "the unfettered discretion conferred by district policy presents such a risk of viewpoint discrimination as to run afoul of the First Amendment."