Posted December 9, 2005.

Justice Department Supports Church Meetings in Library

Department of Justice lawyers have filed an amicus brief in support of a Christian outreach group that was denied meeting-room access at the Antioch branch of the Contra Costa County (Calif.) Library two years ago. The Sacramento-based Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries had sued the county in July 2004 after library officials told the group its prayer service would not be allowed in library meeting rooms. After the church won an injunction from a district court judge in May, county officials appealed the decision.

In arguments filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco November 28, DOJ civil-rights lawyers argued that government agencies must give religious groups the same access to public buildings as secular organizations, the San Francisco Chronicle reported December 3.

Attorneys for Contra Costa County responded that the church was welcome to meet in the library as long as it did not hold prayer services. “The United States Supreme Court has taken great pains to avoid converting public buildings into houses of worship,” their written argument stated. The county’s Deputy Counsel Kelly Flanagan added, “Our policy says no religious services. That’s where we believe the line is appropriately drawn.”

Posted December 9, 2005.