ACLJ Sues Texas City Over Policy That Prohibits Religious Meetings.

Business Editors

TYLER, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 2002

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm today filed suit in federal court against the City of Van, Texas after city officials refused to permit its facilities, which are open to numerous activities, to be used for religious meetings.

"The city violated the law by its decision to treat religious speech differently than non-religious speech," said Stuart J. Roth, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed suit. "The law is very clear: if a city permits its facilities to be used for a wide variety of purposes, it cannot legally reject a request to permit religious meetings from taking place. That's discrimination and a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. We're confident that the court will uphold the constitutional rights of our clients and put an end to this discriminatory action."

The ACLJ today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Tyler, Texas on behalf of Charles and Michelle Moore against the City of Van, Texas.

According to the complaint, the city's facilities use policy permits a wide variety of community events and private activities to take place at the Van Community Center - including, but not limited to, the Kiwanis Club, Super Bowl Parties, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, family reunions, senior citizen events, and scouting events. The city says it permits the center to be used by residents of the city of Van and the Van Independent School District.

According to the suit, the City of Van permitted the Moores to use the center in February 2002 where approximately 80 to 100 people attended an event that included the singing of worship songs, praying, and a religious message.

However, when the Moores attempted to reserve the facility again for a prayer gathering, the suit contends city officials repeatedly rejected their request. According to the complaint, the Moores received a letter from the Mayor stating that the center "is not available for any type of religious service meetings." In March 2002, the Moores appeared before the Mayor and city Aldermen and urged them to reconsider the prohibition on religious use. The following month, the city refused to change its decision and the ban remains in place today.

The suit names as defendants the City of Van, Texas, the Mayor and the city's Aldermen. The suit contends that the city violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and asks the court to declare the city's facilities use policy unconstitutional and requests an injunction to prohibit the discriminatory facilities use policy from being used.

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