Suit Challenges Library Meeting Room Rules

In a lawsuit filed last Tuesday, a Christian advocacy group has challenged rules regarding the use of meeting rooms at the Lawrence, Massachusetts public library.  The complaint (full text) in Liberty Counsel, Inc. v. City of Lawrence, Massachusetts, (D MA, filed 6/30/2015), challenges the Meeting Room Policy which provides: "Political and religious groups may use the Library’s meeting rooms for administrative purposes but shall not be allowed use for the sake of proselytizing, campaigning, or otherwise influencing people to a particular belief or point of view." The policy also prohibits use of meeting rooms for religious services.  The complaint alleges that the policy violates the 1st and 14th Amendments as well as provisions of the state constitution. A Liberty Counsel press release announced the filing of the lawsuit.

Court Orders Parishioners To End 10+ Year Vigil Protesting Church Closure

A Massachusetts trial court yesterday granted the Boston Catholic Archdiocese an injunction to end the ten and one-half year vigil that parishioners of the now-closed St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in Scituate (MA) have been maintaining inside the church.  On the website of the Friends organization supporting the vigil, parishioners say:

The members of St. Frances believe that we have been unjustly shuttered via the flawed process of reconfiguration introduced by the Archdiocese of Boston and that this misguided decision was based solely on the value of our parish property - 30.3 acres of prime coastal real estate.

In Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston v. Rogers, (MA Super. Ct., May 14, 2015), the court held that the former parishioners "are unlawfully and intentionally committing a trespass by the continuation of the protest vigil on the premises of the church."  The court rejected defendants' arguments that it lacks jurisdiction over the suit because the claims require the interpretation of ecclesiastical principles. saying:

defendants' argument conflates the issues of whether the parish may be closed (an eccleisastical question) with whether an owner in control of property may determine when individuals may be on property (a civil law question).  Because the latter may be decided by neutral principles of property law, this court may proceed to hear the facts and decide whether defendants' vigil is a trespass and whether an injunction should issue.

The court also rejected parishioners' defense of laches, and their $37,000 counterclaim for amount spent on upkeep and maintenance during the vigil. AP reports on the decision.  The Quincy Patriot Ledger reports that defendants plan an appeal and plan to ask the trial court to suspend the injunction pending appeal.  Otherwise it will take effect on May 29.

Massachusetts City Votes To Move Nativity Scene Back To City Hall

In Lowell, Massachusetts, the issue of December holiday displays has arisen early this year.   Today's Lowell Sun reports that City Council voted unanimously yesterday to approve a motion requesting that the Nativity scene which last year was moved to church property be returned this December to its traditional location at the plaza next to City Hall.  The motion also calls for the city to study how the display can be expanded to honor other traditions and cultures.  The display was moved last year after complaints and a legal review which concluded that the display posed constitutional problemss. Council member Rita Mercier who sponsored the motion to bring the display back to City Hall said yesterday: "I don't worry about what other people think. I worry about who that figure laying in the manger represents. I fear what he thinks."