Posted by
Ron on Saturday, September 23, 2006 7:36:03 PM
Interesting, of course it was the 9th court of appeals that turned them
down. This of course means they will be overturned by the Supreme
Court. (They have been overturned more than any other appeals court).
Government
libraries can block religious groups from worshipping in public meeting
rooms, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The
decision came from a case involving the Faith Center Church
Evangelistic Ministries, a Christian group which won a court order
allowing them to hold a "prayer, praise and worship" service in meeting
rooms open to other groups at a Contra Costa County library branch. A
federal judge said it had a First Amendment right of religion to use the public's facilities.
But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in a 2-1 decision.
"Prohibiting
Faith Center's religious worship services from the Antioch meeting room
is a permissible exclusion of a category of speech," Judge Richard Paez
ruled.
The Alliance Defense Fund,
which is defending the church group, called the decision "astounding."
The group, he said, would consider appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court
or asking the appeals court to reconsider. Read More.