westside community schools v mergens dissenting opinion

19225. a crucial symbolic link between government and religion, thereby enlisting -- at least in the eyes of impressionable youngsters -- the powers of government to the support of the religious denomination operating the school. at 550. Brief for Petitioners 58-59, Brief for Respondents 34-40; Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae 17-19, and nn. [n9]See ante at 239. Id. 19218 (1984). The Court of Appeals instead found that "[m]any of the student clubs at WHS, including the chess club, are noncurriculum-related." Westside High School is part of the Westside Community School system, an independent public school district. We disagree. It provides a test that is both more simple and more easily administered than what the majority has crafted. . The United States intervened in the action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. As I have already indicated, the majority, although it agrees that Congress intended by this Act to endorse the application of Widmar to high schools, does not compare this case to Widmar. Senator Hatfield attributed the Act's complex terminology to. But the Constitution also demands that the State not take action that has the primary effect of advancing religion. But our own efforts to articulate "public forum" analysis have not, in my opinion, been altogether satisfactory. The State has structured an environment in which students holding mainstream views may be able to coerce adherents of minority religions to attend club meetings or to adhere to club beliefs. And while the University of Missouri recognized such clubs as the Young Socialist Alliance and the Young Democrats, Chess v. Widmar, 635 F.2d 1310, 1312, n. 1 (CA8 1980), Westside has recognized no such political clubs, App. The panel opinion suggests that this case, unlike Santa Fe, involves issues of private religious speech only and thus the Establishment Clause is not implicated. In this case, Congress' general intent is -- as Senator Gorton certainly understood -- a necessary guide to the Act's more particular terms. Although also concurring in the judgment, Justice Thurgood Marshall argued that the school must take greater steps to disassociate itself from religious speech so that students, who are compelled to attend school, did not get the impression that the school endorsed the religious speech of a Christian club. To extend Widmar to high schools, then, would require us to pose two questions. Ante at 242-243. . We agreed that it had. App. CHEERLEADERS -- A girls sport cheerleader team is made up of a junior varsity and varsity. “The students alleged that Westside 's refusal violated the Equal Access Act, which requires that schools in receipt of federal funds provide "equal access" to student groups seeking to express "religious, political, philosophical, or other content" messages” (Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens by and Through Mergens). Id., at 270-277, 102 S.Ct., at 274-78; see also, id., at 280-281, 102 S.Ct., at 279-80 (STEVENS, J., concurring in judgment). Encyclopedia Table of Contents | Case Collections | Academic Freedom | Recent News, Bridget Mergens Mayhew leaves the Supreme Court in Washington with her attorney Douglas Veith following arguments on Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990). Under the Equal Access Act, a public secondary school with a "limited open forum" is prohibited from discriminating against students who wish to conduct a meeting within that forum on the basis of the "religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings." First, although we have invalidated the use of public funds to pay for teaching state-required subjects at parochial schools, in part because of the risk of creating. Found inside – Page 10Westside Community Schools v . Mergens , 496 U.S. 226 , 265 , 110 S. Ct . 2356 , ( 1990 ) This three - step process gives effect to the concept of stare ... County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 492 U.S. 573, 659 (1989) (KENNEDY, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part) (quoting Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 678 (1984)). The Court makes a gallant and commendable effort to vindicate Congress' peculiar diction. Likewise, it would appear that high school administrators might reasonably have difficulty figuring out whether a cheerleading squad or pep club might trigger the Act's application. 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. This Court's majority does not place any special emphasis upon Senator Hatfield's reference to chess clubs, see ante at 245-246 (discussing chess clubs without reference to the legislative history), and I agree that it deserves none. Justice MARSHALL, joined by Justice BRENNAN, although agreeing that the Act as applied to Westside could withstand Establishment [p229] Clause scrutiny, concluded that the inclusion of the Christian Club in the type of forum presently established at the school, without more, will not assure government neutrality toward religion. App. Students have the opportunity to join JCL beginning in the fall of each school year. The University of Missouri took concrete steps to ensure, that the University's name will not "be identified in [p267] any way with the aims, policies, programs, products, or opinions of any organization or its members,". See also id. Justice O'Connor wrote that there is a crucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the Establishment Clause forbids, and private speech Board Policy 6180, on "Recognition of Religious Beliefs and Customs" requires that "[s]tudents adhering to a specific set of religious beliefs or holding to little or no belief shall be alike respected." ORCHESTRA -- This activity is an extension of our regular curriculum. . The Act, as construed by the majority, comes perilously close to an outright command to allow organized prayer, and perhaps the kind of religious ceremonies involved in Widmar, on school premises. Board of Ed. at 706-707. To the extent a school tolerates speech by a wide range of ideological clubs, students cannot reasonably understand the school to endorse all of the groups' divergent and contradictory views. v. MERGENS, BY AND THROUGH HER NEXT FRIEND, MERGENS, ET AL. The Court's opinion in Widmar left open the question whether its holding would apply to a public high school that had established a similar public forum. Id. 98-357, pp. of Educ. The logic of the Act also supports this view, namely, that a curriculum-related student group is one that has more than just a tangential or attenuated relationship to courses offered by the school. See San Antonio Independent School Dist. The District Court entered judgment for petitioners. Argued Jan. 9, 1990. Found insideBOARD OF EDUCATION OF WESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS. v. MERGENS 496 U.S. 226 (1990) The Court rules that the Equal Access Act does not violate the ... at 20941 ("The bill only applies if the school voluntarily creates a limited open forum. See, e.g., Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School Dist. 88-1597. They alleged, inter alia, that the refusal to permit the proposed club to meet at Westside violated the Equal Access Act, which prohibits public secondary schools that receive federal assistance and that maintain a "limited open forum" from denying "equal access" to students who wish to meet within the forum on the basis of the "religious, political, philosophical, or other content" of the speech at such meetings. Any student has an opportunity to submit their name for consideration. See App. See, e.g., 130 Cong.Rec. Board of Ed. The Act is consistent with this standard [p261] as well. See ante at 285 (MARSHALL, J., concurring). § 4071(c)(4); cf. Webster's Third New International Dictionary 557 (1976); see also Black's Law Dictionary 345 (5th ed. Indeed, as applied in the present case, the Act mandates a religious group's access to a forum that is dedicated to promoting fundamental values and citizenship as [p263] defined by the school. See Corporation of Presiding Bishop, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327, 335-336 (1987); Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U.S. 756, 773 (1973). Performances are given periodically throughout the year. The university permitted use of its facilities for speakers advocating transcendental meditation and humanism. I agree with the plurality that a school complying with the statute by satisfying the criteria in § 4071(c) does not violate the Establishment Clause. A broad reading of the Act would be consistent with the views of those who sought to end discrimination by allowing students to meet and discuss religion before and after classes. Ante, at 242-243. No. ADVOCATES: This decision, however, was for Congress to make, subject to constitutional limitations. Only if this question were answered affirmatively would we then need to test the constitutionality of the Act by asking whether the Establishment Clause has different consequences when applied to a high school's open forum than when applied to a college's. 496 U.S. 226. 130 Cong.Rec. The Court relies heavily on the dictionary's definition of "curriculum." If, however, it is the recognition of advocacy groups that signals the creation of such a forum, I see no danger that school administrators will be able to manipulate the Act to defeat Congressional intent. Peer Advocates would therefore also fit within our description of a "noncurriculum related student group." The District Court opinion in Bender -- an opinion of great concern to Congress when it passed this Act -- observed that "a university which accommodates student organizations by making its facilities ‘generally open' for their meetings will have created a ‘limited' public forum." Pp. No. It would be wrong to say that the Court today slices these distinctions too thin: there is in fact no distinction for the slicing. Ibid. the Court was right in Widmar, and this bill seeks only to clarify and extend the law of that case a bit. Justice O'CONNOR, joined by THE CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice WHITE, and Justice BLACKMUN, concluded in Part III that the Equal Access Act does not, on its face and as applied to Westside, contravene the Establishment Clause. None of the clubs at the high school is even arguably controversial or partisan. In this respect, at least this case resembles Hazelwood School Dist. The footnote singles out Senator Levin for special attention not because his views are of unique importance, but because his remarks were quoted by the Court of Appeals. We would first ask whether a high school had established a forum comparable under our Free Speech Clause jurisprudence to that which existed in Widmar. LATIN CLUB (Junior Classical League) -- This is a club designed for those students who are taking Latin as a foreign language. I do not, however, believe that either yields the conclusion which the majority adopts. The club's membership might have a special interest in seeing more attention devoted to icthyological topics in biology classes, in adding oceanographic examples to physics classes, and in allowing advanced students in the school shops to design snorkeling gear. . The Act, as construed by the majority, comes perilously close to an outright command to allow organized prayer, and perhaps the kind of religious ceremonies involved in Widmar, on school premises. 27.See e.g., 130 Cong.Rec. The Court, however, misapplies the distinction. The word endorsement has insufficient content to be dispositive. County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 492 U.S. 573, 655 (KENNEDY, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part). Cf.42 U.S.C. In Bender v. Williamsport Area School Dist., 563 F.Supp. at 252-253; Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 60, n. 51 (1985). Bender v. Williamsport Area School Dist., 741 F.2d 538, 547, n. 12 (CA3 1984); id. For support, Chandler II relies on Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens for the principle that there is … In no activity of the State is it more vital to keep out divisive forces than in its schools. I am instead inclined to agree with Professor Laycock, who observes that "[a] House opponent [of the Act] was surely correct when he said that not even the sponsors of the bill knew what it meant." Westside in practice and by general agreement of the local chapter has inducted only those juniors in the upper 7% of their class. Must distinguish between religious motives and religious speakers -- was `` an excessive government with... Forum 's ‘ primary effect ' '' ). local preferences to include the. 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