Good News Clubs Sue Claiming Unequal Treatment By School District

In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania last week, the organization that operates after-school Good News Clubs filed suit in federal court challenging on constitutional grounds the school district's refusal to include it as a non-profit community service group that may use school facilities without charge.  Instead the district told the group that it would be charged $1200 per year per school for after-school use of space for its activities. The complaint (full text) in Child Evangelism Fellowship of Dauphin County, Inc. v. Harrisburg School District, (MD PA, filed 2/8/2013), alleges:

In depriving Plaintiff access on equal terms, the District applied its Policy in an unconstitutional manner, thereby violating the free speech, free exercise, due process, and equal protection clauses of the First and Fourteenth Amendments tothe United States Constitution.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News reports on the lawsuit.