An evangelical group's plan to distribute fliers to students in two Montgomery County elementary schools does not amount to an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, a divided federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
In a 2 to 1 decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, reversed a judge's ruling blocking the Child Evangelic Fellowship's access to the Montgomery schools' take-home flier program. The court sent the matter back to U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte in Greenbelt for further proceedings.
Messitte's ruling barred the group from giving literature to students at Mill Creek Towne Elementary School in Rockville and Clearspring Elementary School in Damascus. The materials, to be taken home to parents, invited students to attend "Good News Club" meetings, which offer Bible lessons and other religious activities after school.
The school district said it barred the group because the flier program is not open to "proselytization" or "evangelical groups." The appeals court said that amounted to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.