UPDATE: Equal Access Win in New Jersey

By 

Jay Sekulow

|
June 21, 2011

2 min read

Religious Liberty

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Not long ago, we reported that a church in New Jersey contacted us after being denied access to a city park's playground solely because of the religious content and nature of their event.  We send a demand letter to the city explaining that the city's denial violated the church's First Amendment rights.  Our initial posting about this case is here.

I am pleased to report that we have received word from a city attorney in the city of Plainfield, NJ that the church will be given equal access to a city playground for ministry activities.

The city routinely allows groups to reserve playground areas and other public facilities through an application process. The church has held one-hour religious programs for children on Saturdays in the past at the playground. When the church recently applied again, however, their request was denied due to the separation of church and state.

In our demand letter to the city, we explained that, when the government opens public facilities for expressive activity, it may not deny religious organizations equal access to those facilities due to the religious content or viewpoint of their expression.

We recently received a letter from the city attorney stating that our client would be allowed to use the playground on the same terms and conditions as non-religious organizations. The letter stated that the churchs application would be processed. The church members who contacted us were very grateful for our assistance.