Suit On Church Rental of State Building Space Settled

The Alliance Defense Fund has announced that last Thursday it voluntarily dismissed a suit it had filed against New York state officials challenging a policy that prevented the renting of a conference room in a Watertown, NY state office building to the Relevant Church for Easter services. (See prior postings, 1, 2.) State officials have now adopted a policy that permits renting space in the Dulles State Office Building for religious activities or services on the same terms as it is rented to private groups for other educational, cultural and civic activities. The dismissal in Relevant Church v. Egan was "without prejudice" so that the suit can be re-filed if officials do not carry out the new policy.