Victory Through Jesus Sports Ministry Found. v. Lee's Summit R-7 Sch. Dist., et al., No. 10-2296 (8th Cir. 2011)
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Plaintiff filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action against defendants alleging that defendants violated plaintiff's rights under the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by refusing plaintiff equal access to defendant's "Backpack Flyers for Students" program. At issue was whether the district court erred in denying plaintiff's claims for injunctive relief and damages on the merits. The court held that the district court did not err in finding that plaintiff's First Amendment rights were not violated; that a limited public forum could be limited to use by certain groups or dedicated solely to the discussion of certain subjects and a public entity could impose reasonable and viewpoint neutral restrictions on speech in the forum; that restrictions on plaintiff's access to the program was viewpoint neutral and did not impose a substantial restriction on plaintiff's access to the forum; and that the school official did not exercise unbridled discretion in managing the program.
Court Description: Civil case - Constitutional law. District court did not err in finding that plaintiff's First Amendment rights were not violated when school officials refused to allow plaintiff to participate in the district's "Backpack Flyers for Students" program; a limited public forum may be limited to use by certain groups or dedicated solely to the discussion of certain subjects, and a public entity may impose reasonable and view-point neutral restrictions on speech in the forum; restriction on plaintiff's access to the program was viewpoint neutral and did not impose a substantial restriction on plaintiff's access to the forum; school official did not exercise unbridled discretion in managing the program.
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