California appeals panel: Christian club wrongfully barred from school

By The Associated Press

03.02.01

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SAN FRANCISCO — In a case testing the separation of church and state in schools, a state appeals court panel ruled yesterday that a Christian students' club was wrongfully excluded from a high school.

Justin Van Schoick, a former student and president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, sued the Saddleback Valley Unified School District after the group was denied recognition as an officially sanctioned club at Mission Viejo High School in 1996.

"Merely granting the FCA the same privileges enjoyed by all other campus clubs offends neither the United States Constitution nor that of this state," said the unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the Santa Ana-based 4th District Court of Appeal, reversing a lower court's decision.

The club, which was formed to bring "a Christian presence on campus," sought official club status so it could hold meetings at the school. It said all gatherings would be student initiated and voluntary, would take place after normal school hours and would not interfere with educational activities.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Dennis S. Choate had ruled that granting the club access to campus would "amount to impermissible state sponsorship of religion."

But Van Schoick's appeal argued that barring the group from the school violated the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act, which prohibits public schools from discriminating against religious clubs when other organizations already exist on campus.

The appeals court panel said it was "highly unlikely that FCA's on-campus meetings would convey a message of the state approval or endorsement of religion."

"This decision overturns three decades of laws which enabled the wholesale discrimination against Christian students," said lawyer John Mendoza, who works for the nonprofit Pacific Justice Institute and represented Van Schoick. "It is a monumental decision."

The American Civil Liberties Union says it supported the court's decision.

"If schools allow some clubs, they need to give equal access to other clubs, regardless of whether or not those clubs foster religion," said Elizabeth Schroeder, associate director of the ACLU of Southern California.

The school district's lawyer, J. Michael Declues, downplayed the decision.

"The previous judgment in our favor has been reversed," he said. "All that means is it's now sent back to the trial court."

Update

California schools ban extracurricular clubs to avoid allowing Christian group
Officials bar social, service clubs from district's high schools after state appeals court rules religious organization was wrongly excluded from campus.  06.15.01