Federal Judge Rules Pennsylvania School District Must Allow After-School ‘Satan Club’
“When confronted with a challenge to free speech, the government’s first instinct must be to forward expression rather than quash it.”
This was the end result of a lawsuit by the ACLU, naturally.
FOX News reports:
Federal judge orders Pennsylvania school district to allow After-School Satan club
Pennsylvania’s Saucon Valley School District must allow The Satanic Temple (TST) to use school facilities for its After-School Satan Club as courts continue to examine a civil rights lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Pennsylvania in late March, according to a Monday ruling from a federal judge.
The ruling follows the lawsuit which alleged the district allowed the club to use school facilities but later rescinded permission, citing a policy requiring that use of such facilities should not “interfere with the educational program of the schools.”
The group alleged the walkback violated the Free Speech clause of the First Amendment.
John Gallagher, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, issued a preliminary injunction requiring the district continue to give the After-School Satan Club the right to use its facilities
“When confronted with a challenge to free speech, the government’s first instinct must be to forward expression rather than quash it. Particularly when the content is controversial or inconvenient. Nothing less is consistent with the expressed purpose of American government to secure the core, innate rights of its people,” the ruling read.
“Although The Satanic Temple, Inc.’s objectors may challenge the sanctity of this controversially named organization, the sanctity of the First Amendment’s protections must prevail. Indeed, it is the First Amendment that enumerates our freedoms to practice religion and express our viewpoints on religion and all the topics we consider sacred.”
In its lawsuit, the ACLU of Pennsylvania noted that other religious organizations – namely those with Christian affiliations – were allowed to use the facilities without complaints, therefore creating a double standard.
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Comments
The ACLU is correct about this. The solution is to stop having government-run schools.
First Amendment and all that. Now, if they would just enforce the rest of the US Constitution as it is written, America would likely be a better place.
It’s only leftist speech that cannot be suppressed. If you want to suppress speech about Ivermectin, or Hunter’s laptop, or rapists in school restrooms, or racial crime trends, or the insanity of anthropogenic climate change, call 1-800-GARLAND.