What Constitution? Los Angeles policy bans churches from renting city facilities, prompting legal challenge

LOS ANGELES, CA - The city of Los Angeles has a policy that bans churches from renting city-owned recreational spaces, such as swimming pools and basketball courts, for religious purposes.

This policy allows these facilities to be used for various other activities but explicitly prohibits their use for religious worship or any other religious activities. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) reports that this policy violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and religious expression.

According to the Facility Reservation Policy, public facilities like community center rooms, picnic shelters, swimming pools, basketball courts, and sports fields can be rented for civic, social, educational, athletic, and cultural activities, as well as limited commercial uses.

However, the policy states that these facilities cannot be used for religious worship, political fundraisers, political advocacy, partisan campaign events, or the sale of goods or services. It does allow candidate or ballot issue forums that present all opposing viewpoints.

The ACLJ highlighted an incident where a client of theirs tried to reserve a city facility to sing worship songs and watch a sermon on television. City officials immediately denied the request, citing the policy against using city facilities for religious purposes.

The ACLJ argues that this broad prohibition prevents any religious gatherings in city-owned buildings that are otherwise available for public reservation.

In response, the ACLJ sent a cease-and-desist letter to the city of Los Angeles, challenging the policy's legality.

“When reaching out to city officials to reserve the building, our client clearly expressed he wanted to reserve the space to sing worship songs and watch a sermon on television. Our client was met with immediate resistance by city officials,” ACLJ said in a press release. “City officials repeatedly told our client that they cannot permit the use of city facilities for religious purposes. Such a broad prohibition prevents any religious gatherings in city-owned buildings that are open to the general public for reservation,” the religious liberty law firm stated.

They argue that the First Amendment limits the government's ability to censor free speech and religious expression. The First Amendment, they say, protects religious speech just as much as secular speech.

The ACLJ references several Supreme Court cases to support their argument, including Widmar v. Vincent and Lamb’s Chapel. These cases established that religious groups must be treated equally when the government opens public facilities to various groups.

The ACLJ claims that the city's policy constitutes viewpoint discrimination by banning any and all religious uses of its facilities. They argue that this restriction is a direct violation of the First Amendment because it suppresses speech solely based on its religious nature.

The First Amendment ensures that the government cannot suppress speech simply because it is religious. “Any restrictions imposed by the government on the use of its facilities, such as a library or a meeting room in a community center or building, must be viewpoint-neutral. In this case, the policy constitutes viewpoint discrimination by banning any and all use of its facilities for any religious purpose,” ACLJ said. “This policy undoubtedly restricts all forms of expression solely because they are or may be religious and is a direct violation of the First Amendment.”