Court rules for religious group on after-school access

A religious-based club that met in a Minneapolis school won a court victory against the school district, when a federal appeals court determined the district could not exclude the club from its after-school activities program.The ruling filed Wednesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit comes in a request for an injunction by Child Evangelism Fellowship of Minnesota to maintain standing as an after-school community partner at Jenny Lind Elementary School.The district court abused its discretion in denying the fellowship's injunction, the appeals court ruled in reversing the denial and sending the case back to the trial court.The program gained access to the school in 2000 to hold its weekly "good-news clubs" for students ages five to 12. The meetings involve Bible stories, lessons on moral and character development, prayer, songs and creative activities. They are open to all students, with parental permission.The Missouri-based fellowship lost its status as an after-school partner at the North Side school in 2009 after a school employee raised concerns about its prayer and proselytizing activities. Although the program still was able to use the school to meet, it lost district bus and food services. The changes cut attendance from 47 to five students, the court said.The school district argued that it had a "compelling public interest" in excluding the club from its after-school program status because the establishment clause forbidding the government from endorsing religion. But the appeals court ruled that the change constituted impermissible "viewpoint discrimination." The establishment clause requires neutrality, rather than hostility toward religion, according to previous federal court rulings, which have held that such religious activity is private speech that is not school sponsored.