ACLJ Files Religious Discrimination Lawsuit against California County after Church Charged Usage Fee.

Business Editors

FRESNO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2003

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Kern County, CA after county officials charged a Christian church an hourly usage fee to utilize a county owned facility that is made available to other community groups without charge.

"It is clear that our client is facing discrimination simply because the organization is religious in nature," said Stuart J. Roth, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed suit on behalf of the church. "The law is very clear: if a county permits community groups to use its facilities, it cannot single out a specific organization on the basis of its religious mission and treat that organization differently. That's exactly what has happened in this case - a church was charged an hourly usage fee while other community organizations are not. We're hopeful the court will provide the corrective action needed to ensure that such discriminatory action is stopped."

The ACLJ today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fresno against Kern County and county leadership on behalf of New Life Assembly, a Christian church located in Delano, CA and its pastor Reverend Ray G. Mejia. The suit contends that the church and its pastor faced religious discrimination when the county charged the church $621 to use the county-owned Delano Veterans of Foreign Wars Center for a series of religious events that occurred in November 2002. Of the $621 paid to use the facility, $450 of that amount was charged specifically because of the religious nature of the event.

In 2000, the County Parks and Recreation Department published a memorandum dealing with religious activities in county buildings. According to the suit, the policy states that "religious activities such as a service, confirmation, first communion, etc." would require payment of an hourly usage fee, while activities such as "youth activities, pot lucks, special events, etc." would be "viewed as secular and non-religious in nature," requiring no usage fee to be paid.

"The county has no business penalizing a religious organization by imposing a usage fee because the content of the group's event is religious in nature," said Roth. "The policy in place only points to one conclusion - the county discriminates against religious organizations."

The suit contends that a wide variety of organizations use the county facilities including Toastmasters, Lion's Club, Kiwanis Club, and Mexican-American Pioneers. Many of the groups are not charged the hourly fee to use county facilities.

The lawsuit names as defendants Kern County, the Board of Supervisors, and the Director of the County Parks and Recreation Department. The suit contends the policy violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The suit asks the court to declare the policy invalid and unconstitutional and to grant injunctive relief to ensure that the discriminatory policy does not continue to be applied.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law. The ACLJ is located in Virginia Beach, VA and the web site address is www.aclj.org.