Opinion · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

FULL GOSPEL TABERANCLE v. COMM. SCH. DIST. 27, 164 F.3d 829 (2nd Cir. 1999)

FULL GOSPEL TABERNACLE & JORGE VEGA, PASTOR OF FULL GOSPEL TABERNACLE ISSUBSTITUTED IN PLACE OF ROBERT CASTRO, PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS, v. COMMUNITYSCHOOL Dist. 27; Cmty. Sch. Bd. 27 OF THE CITY OF OZONE PARK;MICHAEL WEITZ, IN HIS Off. CAPACITY AS PRINCIPAL OF Pub. Sch. 105QUEENS; SHEILA McELHATTEN, IN HER Off. CAPACITY AS Sec’y TO THEDIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS; BRENDA ISAACS, IN HER Off. CAPACITY AS CO

Type
Opinion
Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Jurisdiction
Federal
Date
1999-01-25
Topic
general

FULL GOSPEL TABERANCLE v. COMM. SCH. DIST. 27, 164 F.3d 829 (2nd Cir. 1999) FULL GOSPEL TABERNACLE AND JORGE VEGA, PASTOR OF FULL GOSPEL TABERNACLE ISSUBSTITUTED IN PLACE OF ROBERT CASTRO, PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS, v. COMMUNITYSCHOOL DISTRICT 27; COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD 27 OF THE CITY OF OZONE PARK;MICHAEL WEITZ, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS PRINCIPAL OF PUBLIC SCHOOL 105QUEENS; SHEILA McELHATTEN, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY TO THEDIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS; BRENDA ISAACS, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COMMUNITYSUPERINTENDENT OF COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 27; KENNETH L.

Citator

UpLaw has not yet analyzed FULL GOSPEL TABERANCLE v. COMM. SCH. DIST. 27, 164 F.3d 829 (2nd Cir. 1999). The absence of a flag is not a finding that it is good law.

FULL GOSPEL TABERANCLE v. COMM. SCH. DIST. 27,164 F.3d 829(2nd Cir. 1999)
FULL GOSPEL TABERNACLE AND JORGE VEGA, PASTOR OF FULL GOSPEL TABERNACLE IS
SUBSTITUTED IN PLACE OF ROBERT CASTRO, PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS, v. COMMUNITY
SCHOOL DISTRICT 27; COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD 27 OF THE CITY OF OZONE PARK;
MICHAEL WEITZ, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS PRINCIPAL OF PUBLIC SCHOOL 105
QUEENS; SHEILA McELHATTEN, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY TO THE
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS; BRENDA ISAACS, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COMMUNITY
SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 27; KENNETH L. GROVER, IN HIS
OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 27;
JAMES EGAN; DONNA MARIE CALTABIANO; ERNEST BROWN; SHALOM BECKER; JAMES G.
ADAMS; RICHARD J. ALTABE; GERALDINE CHAPEY; STEVEN GREENBERG; AND JAMES
SANDERS, JR., IN THEIR OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS MEMBERS OF COMMUNITY SCHOOL
BOARD 27, AND BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF NEW
YORK, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,
INTERVENOR-DEFENDANT-APPELLEE.
No. 97-9235.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
Argued: January 11, 1999.
January 25, 1999.
Plaintiffs challenged on First Amendment grounds the defendants' denial of their application for permission to use public school facilities for the purpose of conducting religious worship services. The district court (Charles S. Haight, Jr., Judge) granted summary judgment for defendants, holding that the facilities at issue were limited public forums by virtue of N Y Educ. Law § 414 and school district policy and practice, and that the district's exclusion of religious worship services from school facilities did not amount to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination under First Amendment. We affirm.
Mark N. Troobnick, American Center for Law and Justice (Jay Alan Sekulow, of counsel), Washington, D.C., for Appellants.

Stuart D. Smith, Office of the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York (Jeffrey D. Friedlander, Acting Corporation Counsel, and Larry A. Sonnenshein, of counsel), New York, New York, for Defendants-Appellees.Page 830

Martin Bienstock, Assistant Attorney General of the State of New York (Dennis C. Vacco, Attorney General; John McConnell, Deputy Solicitor General; Thomas D. Hughes, Assistant Solicitor General; Jeffrey I. Slonim, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel), New York, New York, for Intervenor-Defendant-Appellee.

Kimberlee W. Colby, Center for Law Religious Freedom, Christian Legal Society, Annandale, Virginia, for Amicus Curiae Christian Legal Society.

Jay Worona, General Counsel, New York State School Boards Association, Inc., Albany, New York, for Amicus Curiae New York State School Boards Association, Inc.
BEFORE: WINTER, Chief Judge, VAN GRAAFEILAND, and KEARSE, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.
[1] We affirm for substantially the reasons stated by Judge Haight in the decision below. See Full Gospel Tabernacle v. Community School District 27,979 F. Supp. 214(S.D.N.Y. 1997).Page 93