2nd Circuit Blinks In Bronx Household of Faith Temporary Injunction

In the battle between the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals and New York federal district judge Loretta Preska over the scope of a preliminary injunction in Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York, it appears that the Second Circuit has blinked.  As previously reported, Judge Preska defied the Second Circuit and on Feb. 24 extended to all schools her temporary injunction against enforcement of a New York rule barring churches from using school buildings after hours for worship services. The Second Circuit had said the temporary injunction should extend only to Bronx Household of Faith's use of a school building. The New York Law Journal reports that on Feb. 29, the Second Circuit refused the schools' request to stay Judge Preska's Feb 24 injunction. However the Second Circuit asked Judge Preska to hand down an opinion in the case by mid-June so that the dispute can be resolved by the start of school in the Fall. On that basis, the Second Circuit said that while the harm suffered by the schools "is real and significant," it "consists only in the continuation for the short balance of this school year of a status quo that has been in effect for almost a decade." AP reports on the latest developments.