Good News Club v. Milford Central School: Cracks in Wall Between Church & State
by Martha McCarthy, Ph.D.

On June 11, 2001 the Supreme Court delivered a significant decision, Good News Club v. Milford Central School, allowing a private Christian organization to hold its meetings in this New York school district. The school board had denied the request under its community-use policy, and the federal district court and Second Circuit Court of Appeals concurred. The appeals court reasoned that the club’s activities were “quintessentially religious,” which would violate the Establishment Clause if allowed in public schools. But the Supreme Court disagreed, finding that the school district discriminated against the Good News Club by barring religious viewpoints when other community groups were allowed to use school facilities during nonschool time to address secular topics. The Supreme Court found no Establishment Clause violation since the meetings were held after school and were not sponsored by the public school.

The Supreme Court relied heavily on its 1993 decision, Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District, in which it held that another New York school district could not discriminate against a religious group that wanted to use school facilities to show a film series depicting family life from a Christian perspective. Milford school authorities attempted to distinguish the Good News Club that targets children under twelve and involves religious instruction and prayers from the showing of films that were at issue in Lamb’s Chapel. But the Supreme Court did not find the distinction significant, noting that whether moral lessons are taught through live storytelling and prayers or through films is inconsequential from a constitutional standpoint. The Supreme Court majority also rejected the contention that elementary children would feel coerced to participate in the club’s activities, declaring that the Court has never barred private religious conduct during nonschool hours simply because elementary children might be present.

The Court’s decision seems to erase the distinction between religious viewpoints and worship that some lower courts had drawn in condoning the use of public school facilities for community groups to discuss topics from sectarian perspectives, but not allowing them to use public schools for religious worship. Under the Milford ruling, if a public school establishes a forum for community meetings it cannot bar religious groups, even if their devotional meetings target students attending the school. The Court did not find a danger that the community would perceive school district endorsement of religion by allowing access to the Good News Club.

The Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Establishment Clause in Milford is viewed as a victory by groups seeking greater religious accommodations in public schools. It may portend that the Court will expand what is considered private religious expression protected by the Free Speech Clause in contrast to government-sponsored religious expression prohibited by the Establishment Clause. This development in conjunction with the judicial trend to allow more government aid to flow to sectarian schools suggests that there might be some serious cracks in our nation’s wall of separation between church and state. #

Martha McCarthy, Ph.D. is the Chancellor Professor, School of Education, Indiana University.

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