Religious group accuses Missouri city of blocking Sept. 11 service
By The Associated Press
09.12.02
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A suburban Kansas City religious organization has filed a lawsuit claiming the southwest Missouri city of Nevada violated the First Amendment when it denied the group access to a community center for a Sept. 11 remembrance service.
The lawsuit was filed Sept. 10 in U.S. District Court in Kansas City by Liberty Landing, a nonprofit group based in Olathe, Kan., that holds seminars in Missouri and Kansas on the foundations of American liberty and the Christian views of the Founding Fathers.
According to the lawsuit, in early August Liberty Landing President John C. Oster asked Nevada — 100 miles south of Kansas City — to allow him to use the community center this week "for a time of Bible reading, prayer, worship, and discussion about God's plan for liberty in the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11 one year ago."
The city denied Oster's request, saying a long-standing policy required that the center not be used for political or religious purposes, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit Nevada from enforcing the policy and to keep the city from violating Oster's rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, free exercise of religion and equal protection as guaranteed under the First and 14th Amendments.
"Our desire would be that the policy restricting use of the community center from religious or political persuasion be changed, because in our view, any rate, that's the reason for freedom of speech," Oster said.
Nevada city clerk Robin Fisher said she had not heard of Liberty Landing or its request.
"We're actually waiting to be served so we can find out more about it," Fisher said. "Since we have not seen any paperwork, we are really in the dark about it. The information that I'm getting is from phone calls from the press."
Fisher said the city would not comment further.
Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, a religious civil liberties and legal defense organization, said he was amazed at the city's policy.
"You can say anything you want in the community room, but you can't talk about politics or religion," Staver said yesterday. "That's a clear violation of the First Amendment right to free speech."
Oster's son, Joel, is an attorney for Liberty Counsel, though the group is not affiliated with Liberty Landing, Oster said.
He said he chose Nevada for the remembrance service because some town residents had asked him to hold a meeting there. Elsewhere, Liberty Landing has held its seminars in churches, but Oster said he did not have a church contact in Nevada.
"We cast around for location and attempted to get permission at the community center, which seemed to be a logical place to go," Oster said.
According to the lawsuit, Oster would like to use the community center for future meetings.
"Clearly 9-11 will come up again next year. And Mr. Oster would like to go back and use the facility," Staver said.