In a ruling yesterday afternoon from his courtroom in Johnstown, U.S. District Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith told the 1,000-student school district that it couldn't hold the May 31 baccalaureate service in the school auditorium, sponsor the service or conduct rehearsals for it. Doing otherwise would be a First Amendment violation, Smith ruled. And local clergy were getting set to ponder alternatives, possibly staging the baccalaureate at a local church in response to a ruling they were warned last week might be coming. But where you have a religious ceremony in this setting, it sends that message that adherents of the faith are favored and those who aren't adherents aren't going to be favored. Walczak is right, said Dusza.
Berlin is a fairly religious town.
Typically, school districts that rent space to nonprofit groups are allowed to rent their auditoriums to organizations that want to stage baccalaureate services. School district Solicitor Carl Beard said student attendance was optional. But ACLU lawyers complained that the school district was neck-deep in hosting the May 31 service, distributing tickets and staging rehearsals. By yesterday afternoon, the day after the complaint was filed, Smith was back with a temporary restraining order, telling the school district it could have nothing to do with the service. The school district can appeal Smith's decision.