People of all faiths and supporters of religious liberty will march across the Brooklyn Bridge Sunday, April 22 in support of equal access for religious groups to meet in empty NYC school buildings. This is the latest in the long struggle against the New York City public schools’ policy of singling out worship services and denying them access to school buildings on the weekends, while allowing community groups to meet for all other purposes.

The march will begin at 2:00 pm at Cadman Park, which is on the Brooklyn (south) side of the Brooklyn Bridge. Supporters will march across the Brooklyn Bridge and assemble for a concert and prayer meeting. If you live near the New York City area, (and even if you don’t), please come to the march to show your support for religious liberty. And New York City in the springtime is beautiful!

Currently, churches and other religious groups are meeting in the schools, due to a preliminary injunction ADF attorneys won in February. Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled in February that NYC’s anti-worship policy violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Currently, ADF attorneys are preparing a motion for a permanent injunction, which we expect Judge Preska to grant by mid-June. However, NYC will undoubtedly appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which last June ruled against the churches and equal access. The Court reversed an earlier permanent injunction Judge Preska had issued against the policy based on the Free Speech Clause. It is possible that the federal appeals court could rule against equal access once again and allow NYC to expel the churches.

But victory for religious liberty may come from another place, the New York Legislature, and this underscores the importance of the rally this Sunday. The New York Legislature is still actively considering a bill that would overturn the New York City policy. We want the march to show state lawmakers that many people support the equal access legislation. The bill passed the New York Senate earlier this year, and has been awaiting action for several months in the New York Assembly. We are hopeful that the leaders of the New York Assembly are close to an agreement to allow the legislation to go forward.  If the Speaker allows the bill to come to the floor, it will likely pass.

We want to see a victory for equal access, no matter where it comes from. The goal is to protect the rights of religious groups to meet in public schools, whether that success comes from the New York Legislature or the federal courts. See you Sunday on the Brooklyn Bridge!

In a major but interim defeat for the New York City Department of Education, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit  late yesterday denied the City’s request to stay the preliminary injunction. The Second Circuit gave detailed instructions to the parties and to the lower court on how to proceed with the litigation, requiring the District Court to issue a final decision by mid-June, so that the appeals court could rule on the constitutionality of the policy before school starts in the fall.  This means that the churches and other religious groups will be able to meet through the end of the summer at least and possibly longer.

Today, the NYC Department of Education has been rejecting applications by churches to use the schools unless they have a disclaimer on their churches’ websites saying that the churches’ speech is not endorsed by the Department of Education.  This is petty because it unrealistically assumes that people reading the churches’ websites will mistakenly interpret a statement that the church “meets Sunday morning at P.S. XYZ  in Brooklyn” to mean government endorsement of the churches’ speech. Many churches are putting the disclaimer on their websites and reapplying to meet in the schools.

We are hoping that this matter can be successfully resolved soon, with the New York Legislature ordering NYC to repeal the ordinance, or the appeals court strikes it down.

Churches and other religious groups will be able to return to NYC public schools for their worship services, because of a preliminary injunction granted by Chief Judge Loretta Preska late Friday afternoon in Manhattan.  The court ruled that NYC’s ban on private worship services meeting during non-school hours violates the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the First Amendment, and NYC cannot justify its policy by claiming that it is needed to avoid an Establishment Clause violation.  This is a great victory for religious liberty.

NYC will undoubtedly appeal the preliminary injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and also ask that court to stop the preliminary injunction pending the appeal.  ADF attorneys stand ready to respond to that appeal and to fight any attempt to stop this court order that protects religious freedom.

NYC’s policy against worship services also could be eliminated by the state legislature. The New York Legislature comes back into session this week, and the Assembly could take up the bill passed by the New York Senate.  If it goes to the floor, it is likely to pass, because a majority of the Assembly members have signed onto the bill.  This policy needs to go, either by legislative repeal or court injunction, because it opposes this nation’s strong commitment to religious liberty.  Much will likely happen this week.  Stay tuned and pray.

We reported the good news that last Thursday, the federal district court in Manhattan issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop New York City’s Department of Education from enforcing its policy banning private worship services. However, things went a bit askew Friday evening. During the day on Friday, NYC filed an emergency motion with the federal appeals court in NYC, called the Second Circuit, requesting that it stop the TRO so that NYC could continue banning the worship services. About 6:30 pm Friday evening, we received an order from the Second Circuit.  The appeals court rejected NYC’s request to stop the TRO from going into effect (good news) but ruled that the TRO only applied to the named party in the lawsuit, Bronx Household of Faith (n0t good news)!  So NYC then sent out emails to churches on Friday night revoking the permits it had issued in the last 2 days in response to the district court’s TRO.

Bronx Household of Faith did hold its meeting in the NYC public school where it has been meeting, but others did not.  For example, Heavenly Vision Christian Center, a church that meets in the Washington Heights area of northern Manhattan and ministers to the immigrants in the area from the Dominican Republic, worshiped on the sidewalk near the public school where the 1000-member congregation meets (IS 52).  The pastor of Crossroads Church in Staten Island, Ray Parascando, got the late night email revoking his permit, so he held a press conference outside the school on Sunday morning, and his church met in a different church building that evening.

We expect Judge Preska to issue a preliminary injunction within the next week, and it should apply to all religious groups desiring to hold worship services in the NYC public schools.  This situation is rapidly changing, so please continue to pray and stay tuned.

The churches are going back to meet in the NYC schools! Thursday, Judge Loretta Preska issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the New York City Department of Education from enforcing its policy banning private worship services in the public schools on weeknights and weekends. Although the order lasts only ten days, we expect Judge Preska to issue a preliminary injunction during those ten days that will extend the time longer.  At a hearing last Tuesday, Judge Preska indicated her agreement with ADF attorneys that NYC’s policy violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and also excessively entangled the City in religious affairs in violation of the Establishment Clause.

Many of the 60 or so displaced churches have nowhere to meet, so they welcome this reprieve from the federal court.  The NYC Department of Education has filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, asking it to overturn the lower court order and allow NYC to enforce its ban on worship services.  ADF attorneys are set to respond to this petition, and we do not expect it to succeed.   If necessary, ADF will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Although ADF will persevere in court until the end of this lawsuit, ADF urges the New York Legislature to step in and end this whole matter by passing the legislation overturning NYC’s policy.  The proposed law has passed the NY Senate, but the Speaker of the Assembly has held up the bill, voicing concerns that ADF has tried to address with new language for the bill.  We are encouraging the Legislature to act because it has full authority to repeal NYC’s policy. Nothing in the court case requires the Legislature to wait or to keep NYC’s policy.

This amazing battle for equal access and religious liberty in New York City continues.  Stay tuned!

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This battle is far from over; but by God’s grace, and thanks to the support of our generous Ministry Friends, churches in New York City have hope today.

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