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A Christian ministry is no longer banned from gathering in Antioch Branch Library's public meeting rooms.
A federal judge ruled last Friday that Contra Costa County officials (in California) cannot prohibit the ministry from accessing the rooms.
"It is undisputed that Faith Center's expressive activities are protected by the First Amendment, whether they constitute 'mere worship' or something more," reads an opinion issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Faith Center Church Evangelical Ministries filed a lawsuit in 2004 after the group was told that their gathering in the library violated the county's Religious Use restriction. The ministry had received permission to use the library's meeting room for "prayer, praise and worship open to the public" but during its first meeting, library staff approached them and said they could not use the facility for a future meeting.
After the suit was filed, the county narrowed its policy – which formerly stated that "library meeting rooms shall not be used for religious purposes" – to only prohibit meetings it deemed to be “religious services.”
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco in 2005 issued an injunction against the county's policy, ruling that it violated the First Amendment.
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The ruling, however, was overruled in 2006 by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The case was returned to White who determined that allowing library employees to distinguish between what constitutes "religious services" versus other religious activities amounts to "excessive entanglement" of government with religion.
The court ordered the county against enforcing its "religious services" restriction. The injunction takes effect on July 6.
“Christian groups shouldn’t be excluded and discriminated against for their beliefs,” said Tim Chandler, legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed suit on behalf of the ministry. “Christians have a First Amendment right to control the content of their own meetings. The court correctly ruled that the government has no business interfering in what religious groups say.”
He added, "The Supreme Court said almost 30 years ago that the government is not competent to distinguish between religious services and other types of religious speech. The court here is simply reaffirming that principle."
