Protecting Equal Access in New Jersey

Were working with a church in New Jersey after they were denied access to a city park solely because of the religious content and nature of their event

Whats interesting here is that the church already had been given access to the parks for the past two summers.  Previously, the church has held one-hour programs for children each Saturday in one of the city of Plainfields various parks.  The city routinely allows groups to reserve its public facilities through permit application.  The church recently applied again, but was unconstitutionally denied access in the words of one city official under the concept of separation of church and state.

We have sent a demand letter to the city explaining that the citys denial violated the churchs First Amendment rights.  As our letter explained, [t]he First Amendment prohibits a public park or other governmental body from discriminating against private speech for the sole reason that it is religious. 

Our letter further explains that public parks are considered traditional public forums, which have been traditionally devoted to assembly and debate. As the Supreme Court has stated on numerous occasions, religious speech is highly protected under the First Amendment. See Capitol Square Review and Advisory Bd. v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753, 760 (1995).  In traditional public forums, content-based restrictions are highly disfavored, and consequently, must survive the most rigorous of First Amendment judicial standards. 

Moreover, when government opens its public facilities for expressive activity, as here where the city permits groups to apply for and reserve public facilities for special events, it may not enforce a content-based exclusion unless it can show that its regulation is necessary to serve a compelling state interest and that it is narrowly drawn to achieve that end. Perry Educ. Assn v. Perry Local Educators Assn, 460 U.S. 37, 45 (1983).

We will keep you posted and let you know how this situation is resolved.