Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98 (2001)

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100

GOOD NEWS CLUB v. MILFORD CENTRAL SCHOOL

Syllabus

already available to other groups. Because the Club's activities are materially indistinguishable from those in Lamb's Chapel and Widmar, Milford's reliance on the Establishment Clause is unavailing. As in Lamb's Chapel, the Club's meetings were to be held after school hours, not sponsored by the school, and open to any student who obtained parental consent, not just to Club members. As in Widmar, Milford made its forum available to other organizations. The Court rejects Milford's attempt to distinguish those cases by emphasizing that its policy involves elementary school children who will perceive that the school is endorsing the Club and will feel coerced to participate because the Club's activities take place on school grounds, even though they occur during nonschool hours. That argument is unpersuasive for a number of reasons. (1) Allowing the Club to speak on school grounds would ensure, not threaten, neutrality toward religion. Accordingly, Mil-ford faces an uphill battle in arguing that the Establishment Clause compels it to exclude the Club. See, e. g., Rosenberger, supra, at 839. (2) To the extent the Court considers whether the community would feel coercive pressure to engage in the Club's activities, cf. Lee v. Weisman, 505 U. S. 577, 592-593, the relevant community is the parents who choose whether their children will attend Club meetings, not the children themselves. (3) Whatever significance it may have assigned in the Establishment Clause context to the suggestion that elementary school children are more impressionable than adults, cf., e. g., id., at 592, the Court has never foreclosed private religious conduct during nonschool hours merely because it takes place on school premises where elementary school children may be present. Lee, supra, at 592, and Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U. S. 578, 584, distinguished. (4) Even if the Court were to consider the possible misperceptions by school-children in deciding whether there is an Establishment Clause violation, the facts of this case simply do not support Milford's conclusion. Finally, it cannot be said that the danger that children would mis-perceive the endorsement of religion is any greater than the danger that they would perceive a hostility toward the religious viewpoint if the Club were excluded from the public forum. Because it is not convinced that there is any significance to the possibility that elementary school children may witness the Club's activities on school premises, the Court can find no reason to depart from Lamb's Chapel and Widmar. Pp. 112-119.

3. Because Milford has not raised a valid Establishment Clause claim, this Court does not address whether such a claim could excuse Milford's viewpoint discrimination. Pp. 113, 120.

202 F. 3d 502, reversed and remanded.

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