Board Of Educ. Of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens

Facts

Respondents are current and former students at Westside High School, a public secondary school in Omaha, Nebraska. Students at Westside High School are permitted to join various student groups and clubs, all of which meet after school hours on school premises. School Board Policy recognizes these student clubs as a 'vital part of the total education program as a means of developing citizenship, wholesome attitudes, good human relations, knowledge, and skills.' Each club is to have faculty sponsorship and that 'clubs and organizations shall not be sponsored by any political or religious organization, or by any organization which denies membership on the basis of race, color, creed, sex or political belief.' However, Board policy also requires that 'students adhering to a specific set of religious beliefs or holding too little or no belief shall be alike respected.' Students wishing to form a club present their request to a school official who determines whether the proposed club's goals and objectives are consistent with school board policies and with the school district's 'Mission and Goals' - a broadly worded 'blueprint' that expresses the district's commitment to teaching academic, physical, civic, and personal skills and values. Respondent Mergens met with Westside's Principal, Dr. Findley, and requested permission to form a Christian club at the school. The proposed club would have the same privileges and meet on the same terms and conditions as other Westside student groups, except that the proposed club would not have a faculty sponsor. The club's purpose would have been, among other things, to permit the students to read and discuss the Bible, to have fellowship, and to pray together. Membership would have been voluntary and open to all students regardless of religious affiliation. The request was denied, and school officials explained that school policy required all student clubs to have a faculty sponsor, which the proposed religious club would not or could not have, and that a religious club at the school would violate the Establishment Clause. An appeal to the board of education was to no avail. Respondents sued seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The refusal was a violation of the Equal Access Act, 20 U.S.C. 4071-4074 and that petitioners' actions denied them their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to freedom of speech, association, and the free exercise of religion. Petitioners contend that the Equal Access Act did not apply to Westside and that if the Act did apply, it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. The United States intervened in the action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2403 to defend the constitutionality of the Act. The District Court entered judgment for petitioners. The court held that the Act did not apply in this case because Westside did not have a 'limited open forum' as defined by the Act - all of Westside's student clubs, the court concluded, were curriculum-related and tied to the educational function of the school. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed. The District Court erred in concluding that all the existing student clubs at Westside were curriculum related. The Court of Appeals instead found that 'many of the student clubs at WHS, including the chess club, are noncurriculum-related.' The Court of Appeals then rejected petitioners' contention that the Act violated the Establishment Clause. 'Any constitutional attack on the [Act] must, therefore, be predicated on the difference between secondary school students and university students.' Because 'Congress considered the difference in the maturity level of secondary students and university students before passing the [Act],' the Court of Appeals held, on the basis of Congress' fact-finding, that the Act did not violate the Establishment Clause

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

© 2007-2024 ABN Study Partner.