Written by Don Byrd
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday reversed a lower court’s ruling and upheld the constitutionality of a New York City ban on the use of public school buildings for worship services. The decision is the latest in the epic dispute over the Bronx Household of Faith, pitting the trial judge’s support of the church’s quest to continue worship services in a school against the Appeals Court’s repeated rejection of her argument.
The NYTimes has more:
Judge Pierre N. Leval, writing for a 2-to-1 majority of the panel, said the city’s ban was “consistent with its constitutional duties,” and that it did not violate the right to free exercise of religion. And the judge wrote that the lower court erred in concluding that the policy compelled the city “to make decisions that constitute excessive entanglement with religion.”
You can read the opinion here.