No meetings for Christians at Ohio civic center, ADF sueshttp://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4582 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
No meetings for Christians at Ohio civic center ADF, ADF-allied attorney file suit after Union Township officials
UNION TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit against Union Township Tuesday on behalf of Citizens for Community Values for denying the Christian educational group access to a public meeting room. The township repeatedly failed to provide CCV with any policy or documentation to justify its denial, only stating that the religious content of CCV’s “Politics and the Pulpit” event might violate the so-called “separation of church of state.” “Christian groups shouldn’t be discriminated against because of their beliefs,” said ADF Legal Counsel Tim Chandler. “The civic center cannot single out CCV for discrimination simply because of the religious content of its speech, while allowing other groups to discuss a wide variety of topics. It is a serious misunderstanding of the Constitution to say that a publicly accessible room can be denied to a group of Christians because they might say something religious.” On Feb. 20, the Union Township Civic Center denied CCV access to its meeting room and would not provide the Christian group with any explanation for its refusal other than saying that the activity might violate the “separation of church and state.” The meeting was geared to discuss what the Bible teaches about the political involvement of pastors, churches, and other Christians, as well as their protections under current law. The meeting would also include prayer for God’s guidance along with a time of singing to thank God for the freedom to participate in the political process. “Thomas Jefferson’s wall protected the church from government control, not the public square from the presence of religion. Yet this is exactly what the Union Township Civic Center is attempting to do,” said Chandler. “It is distressing that some people wrongly believe that the First Amendment prevents religious speech in public when it does the opposite: the First Amendment protects religious speech.” The complaint and motions for declaratory judgment, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction filed in Citizens for Community Values v. Union Township with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division, is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/CCVvUnionTownshipComplaint.pdf. ADF attorneys and ADF-allied attorney David Langdon of Cincinnati also filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of CCV against an Ohio library in March (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4418). ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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