Child Evangelism Fellowship v. Minneapolis Special Sch. Dist. 1, No. 11-3225 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseCEF, a local chapter of an international non-profit organization that conducted weekly "good news clubs" (GNC) for children, appealed the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction against the district. Due to concerns about the "prayer and proselytizing," which occurred at GNC meetings, CEF was informed that it would be removed from the district's after-school enrichment program effective in the 2009-2010 school year. The court held that the district court abused its discretion in denying the preliminary injunction. CEF had a high likelihood of success on the merits of its First Amendment claim. The likely First Amendment violation further meant that the public interest and the balance of harms (including irreparable harm to CEF) favored granting the injunction. Therefore, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Civil Case - Civil Rights. In action challenging school district's decision to limit plaintiff's participation in after-school activities, the district court erred in denying plaintiff's motion for injunctive relief as the district had engaged in viewpoint discrimination in removing the plaintiff from the after-school program; the court also erred in finding the school district had a compelling interest in excluding plaintiff from the after-school program in order to avoid an Establishment Clause violation as the speech in question was not school-sponsored government speech. [ August 28, 2012
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