Truth v. Kent Sch. Dist., No. 04-35876 (9th Cir. Apr. 25, 2008)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, GU, MP) has ruled that a student Bible club has raised valid claims that a Washington state school district violated the federal Equal Access Act (EAA) and Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment by refusing to exempt the club from the district’s non-discrimination policy. This latest ruling came after the Ninth Circuit had ruled in August 2007 that the district did not violate the EAA or the First Amendment when it refused formal recognition to the club on the ground that the club’s membership requirements violated the district’s non-discrimination policies. The court withdrew that opinion and replaced it with the current one, at the same time denying as moot the club’s petition for an en banc rehearing by the entire court. Two students at Kentridge High School (KHS) in Kent School District (KSD) applied to the school’s Associated Student Body (ASB) Council for a charter for a proposed Bible club called "Truth." After the ASB rejected the club’s application on two occasions, Truth filed suit in U.S. district court, alleging the rejection violated the EEA and the Free Speech, Association, Free Exercise, Establishment, and Equal Protection Clauses. While the case was pending, Truth submitted a third charter that divided membership into three categories: voting members, non-voting members, and attendees and set various requirements for behavior and affirmation of belief for members. The ASB Council rejected this third charter. The district court granted the defendants summary judgment on all except the EAA claim based on the plaintiffs’ failure to satisfy the requirements for finding municipal liability under Section 1983, a federal statute that allows a plaintiff to sue a public official who, acting under color of state law, violates rights secured by the federal constitution or statutes. In case its municipal liability ruling was reversed, the court also ruled in the alternative on the merits of the EAA claim and some of the First Amendment claims, concluding the club’s restrictions on general membership provided a legitimate basis for denying the third charter. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision with regard to the EAA and First Amendment free speech claims but reversed on the municipal liability requirements, which it found did not apply to this case. It held that the school district did not violate the EAA or the First Amendment when it refused formal recognition to a student Bible club on the ground that the club’s membership requirements violated the district’s non-discrimination policies.
On appeal the parties agreed that the third charter was the one before the court. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings. Just as the withdrawn opinion had, the current opinion upheld the denial of the EEA and First Amendment claims based on the fact the club’s membership requirements violated the district’s non-discrimination policies. Addressing the issue of whether KSD violated the EAA by permitting certain student groups an exemption from the non-discrimination policy, the appeals court understood the club “to be challenging an allegedly arbitrary or discriminatory practice of granting waivers to non-religious groups, but not religious groups.” While noting that many of the exemptions the club was contesting were “in fact consistent with the District’s non-discrimination policy,” it acknowledged some, in particular those restricting membership on the basis of gender, fell within prevue of the policy. Conceding that there was “no evidence in the record as to why these groups were allowed apparent waivers from the District’s non-discrimination policy,” the appeals court concluded that “to the extent [the club] alleges that the District provided waivers to these groups while denying them to others, and that decision was made on the basis of religion or the religious content of speech, [it] has raised a triable issue of fact.” However, in a footnote the Ninth Circuit pointed out that there were problems with the argument: (1) “Congress has specifically allowed for separate but equal gender discrimination in the context of school and youth activities,” which in and of itself does not “suggest an arbitrary or discriminatory application of that policy so as to violate the [EAA]”; (2) “another high school and a junior high school in the District have granted ASB-recognition to other Bible groups that do not discriminate in their membership criteria, making it even less likely that the District’s application of its anti-discrimination policy in this case was merely a pretext for religious animus.” In regard to the free speech claim, the appeals court also found that “to the extent [the club] argues that it was denied an exemption from the non-discrimination policy based on the content of its speech, we hold it has raised a triable issue of fact, and reverse the district court’s summary judgment. Lastly, it concluded that to the extent the club had alleged a valid free speech claim based on denial of the exemption, it also had valid free exercise of religion, Establishment Clause, and equal protection claims.
Truth v. Kent Sch. Dist., No. 04-35876 (9th Cir. Apr. 25, 2008)
[Editor’s Note: The August 2007 opinion is summarized below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Truth v. Kent Sch. Dist.