home

  **Good News Club V. Milford Central School**   http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-2036.ZS.html

 **__Introduction:__

[|The Good News Club Supreme Court Clip] via Youtube.**

//__First Amendment:__// “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”.
 * **__Facts: __ **

//__Fourteenth Amendment__//: The 14th Amendment is so direct, that it is broken down into 5 sections and refers to the "Rights Guaranteed Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship, Due Process (the respect all of a person's legal rights) and Equal Protection".

 **<span style="color: rgb(247,151,29);"> __<span style="color: rgb(200,78,14);">The Event: __ ** In the Good News Club v. Milford Central School court case, issues of religion and school clashed. A nonprofit organization called CEF organizes community outreach programs in some public schools, which includes the Good News Club. One way they advertise their meetings is by passing out fliers to students to take home. The Milford Central School district permits residents to use the building after hours for educational instruction and social, civic, recreational, and entertainment uses that are associated with the community. However, the Elementary School denied the Good News Club outreach tactics and its gathering on the school’s property. The Good News Club consisted of children from ages 5 to 12 years. During their meetings they would read Bible stories, practice prayers, memorize scripture, and teach the children to "give God first place in your life." Principal Angela Sorrention rejected them because of the “religious nature of the proposed flier and the club’s religious after-school meeting activities”. Steven Landman, a Good News instructor, declares the school is being discriminatory and is violating the //<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(249,11,11); font-family: Arial;"> First Amendment //, the //<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(250,25,25); font-family: Arial;"> Fourteenth Amendment // , and the //<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(253,13,13); font-family: Arial;">Pennsylvania Religious Freedom Protection Act //. The school retaliates that the Good News Club violates the separation of the //<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(250,15,15); font-family: Arial;"> Church and State // ; and also illegally promotes religion in the school. Milford Central School also feared that since the club took place on school grounds, the children would feel coerced to participate in the religious activities even though they occurred after school hours.

Is Milford Central School's decision to prohibit the Good News Club's meetings on school grounds, after regular school hours, a deprivation of the organization's rights and privileges instituted by our U.S. government; relative to a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255,119,0); font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">**__Legal Issue:__**

Yes. The Court upheld the club's right to hold meetings in public schools based on equal access and freedom from viewpoint discrimination. The Good News Club is not forcing the school or students to attend the meetings, the children have permission from their parents to attend, the Club is not interfering with regular functioning of the school nor are they distracting the students and staff from their educational obligation because the Club assembles “peaceably” after school hours. The Court agreed that allowing the Club to meet after hours on school grounds would ensure, not //threaten,// neutrality toward religion. The Court could not come to a conclusion about whether the students would have the misperception that Milford was endorsing religion. However, if the club were banned from the school, the students may also also perceive hostility toward religion and the repercussions may be as great.
 * <span style="color: rgb(246,118,35); font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">**__Ruling:__**

<span style="color: rgb(255,124,0); font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">__**Conclusively & Useful Knowledge for You:**__ Neither schools nor teachers can officially encourage student prayer, however, prayer is permissible when student initiated and when it does not interfere with other students or the functioning of the school. It has only been within the past decade that clergy-led prayer was banned at high school graduations. Organized prayer in schools is illegal, but it is technically legal for extracurricular religious clubs to meet on school grounds.



<span style="color: rgb(233,109,7); font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">__Sources:__ http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-2036.ZS.html http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-education/2009/1/22/religion-in-schools-debate-heats-up.html http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2008/10/31/news/doc490a7e571969f677609168.txt [|http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=17206] __Introduction to Teaching: Becoming a Professional__. Eggen, Paul and Donald Kauchak. 2008.