9th Circuit says SJ religious student club can keep “statement of faith” for leaders
Several years ago, San Jose's Pioneer High School de-recognized its Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) student group because leaders were required to attest agreement with the group's religious values. This fall, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 9–2 that FCA has the constitutional right to exercise freedom of speech and religion when selecting student leaders. WORLD has the story below.
A federal appeals court Wednesday chastised a California school district for its hostility toward a Fellowship of Christian Athletes student group, calling administrators and teachers out for disparaging the group and attempting to drive it from campus.
In a 9-2 ruling, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vindicated the right of an FCA student group at San Jose’s Pioneer High School to select leaders who agree with its statement of faith. School officials had restricted the group, citing an anti-discrimination policy adopted by the San Jose Unified School District.
Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan lauded the goal of anti-discrimination policies like one the school district relied on but said constitutional guarantees of free speech and free exercise of religion trump such policies. “Even if the views held by FCA may be considered to be out-of-date by many, the First Amendment ‘counsel[s] mutual respect and tolerance . . . for religious and non-religious views alike,’” wrote Callahan, citing Supreme Court precedent.
Joining the opinion but writing a separate concurrence, Circuit Judge Danielle Forrest emphasized that the school also violated the Equal Access Act. The 1984 federal law prohibits public secondary schools from denying equal access to student-initiated clubs based on the content of speech at club meetings. “The height of irony is that the district excluded FCA students from fully participating … in the name of preventing discrimination to purportedly ensure that all students feel welcome,” Forrest concluded.
According to the majority opinion, Pioneer’s FCA “Huddle” had been operating on campus without incident and as an officially recognized student group for nearly two decades without objection—until 2019. Like all FCA student groups, the Pioneer Huddle welcomes all students, regardless of their beliefs, for prayer and fellowship but requires leaders to subscribe to the group’s sexual purity statement and statement of faith. Among other Biblical beliefs, the statements include an affirmation that marriage is only between one man and one woman and that it is the only appropriate place for sexual expression....
This article originally appeared in WORLD. Read the whole thing here.
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