On The Front Lines

Rutherford Institute Attorneys Sue School Officials Over South Carolina Church's Right to Meet In High School for Sunday Services

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a civil rights lawsuit against a South Carolina school district's Board of Trustees that is refusing to allow a local church to continue using its high school facilities as a meeting place for its Sunday worship services. In the complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court in Charleston, S.C., Institute attorneys charge that the Board of Trustees of Dorchester County School District Four violated the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Gracepointe Church when they refused to allow the church to continue holding worship services at the high school, allegedly out of a fear that other "undesirable" groups such as Muslims or groups with which the Board did not agree might also want to use the school's facilities. Institute attorneys have asked the court to issue an immediate order allowing the church to continue using the high school after the school's imposed May 28 deadline has passed. A copy of the complaint is available here.

"This is a clear case of religious discrimination and yet another example of how uninformed school officials are about the Constitution," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "It is our hope that the district court will educate schools officials about the importance of respecting the First Amendment rights of all faiths and treating them equally, whether the group is Christian, Muslim or Jewish."

According to the complaint, Gracepointe Church began using the Woodland High School gymnasium in August 2005 while the church sought alternate sites to hold its Sunday worship services. The use was authorized by a Dorchester School District Four policy allowing nonprofit community organizations to use school facilities for meetings and events that do not interfere with school programs. The policy, which does not restrict the frequency or number of times a qualifying community organization may use school facilities, requires a user to pay fees for the use of the facility and to pay for the services of a school district employee to be at the facility. As required under the policy, Gracepointe Church paid the District the appropriate fees and otherwise used the high school gymnasium without incident. However, in late March 2006, school district officials informed the church that it would not be permitted to use school facilities after April 2, 2006. When the church asked to be allowed to continue using the high school because it had not been able to secure an alternate worship site, the Board of Trustees was only willing to extend the deadline until May 28, 2006. In their complaint, Rutherford Institute attorneys point out that the church's use of the facility is in accordance with the school district's policy, which does not prevent any other group from using the high school. Alleging that the Board of Trustees had engaged in viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, Institute attorneys are looking to the district court to protect the constitutional rights of the church and its members to freedom of speech, free exercise of religion and equal protection under the law.