9th Circuit Enjoins Religious Services At City Financed Shelter

In Community House Inc. v. City of Boise, Idaho, (9th Cir., Nov. 9, 2006), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ordered a broader preliminary injunction that the district court had granted in a challenge to the terms under which the city of Boise leased property for use as a homeless shelter for men to the Boise Rescue Mission. The lease to the Christian social service group was for the nominal rent of $1 per year. The trial court had merely held that BRM could not condition the furnishing of homeless services on attendance at religious services. The Court of Appeals granted a broader injunction totally prohibiting chapel services and other religious activities at the Community House facility. It found that plaintiffs raised serious questions as to whether the BRM's religious activities at the publicly-financed Community House facility constitute governmental indoctrination of religion. KBCI News reports on the decision.