Opinion ID: 718699
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The City's Justifications for its Policy

Text: 19 The City offers three justifications for its policy prohibiting religious expression. First, the City asserts that the policy ensures conformity with the First Amendment's prohibition against state establishment of religion. While adherence to the Establishment Clause is a compelling government interest that may justify restrictions on speech in designated public forums, Rosenberger, --- U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2520; Widmar, 454 U.S. at 270-71, 102 S.Ct. at 274-75, the City's restriction is not necessary to serve this interest. The Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that providing equal access to a designated public forum for citizens engaging in religious expression and citizens engaging in secular expression does not violate the Establishment Clause. Rosenberger, --- U.S. at ---- - ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2520-25; Lamb's Chapel, 508 U.S. at 394-96, 113 S.Ct. at 2148; Widmar, 454 U.S. at 270-75, 102 S.Ct. at 274-77. The government need only remain neutral, preferring neither religious nor secular expression over the other. See Rosenberger, --- U.S. at ---- - ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2521-2522. Where the state does not sponsor the religious expression, the expression is made on government property that has been opened to the public for speech purposes, and permission is obtained through the same application process and on the same terms as secular groups, there is no violation of the Establishment Clause. Capitol Square Review and Advisory Bd. v. Pinette, --- U.S. ----, ----, 115 S.Ct. 2440, 2447, 132 L.Ed.2d 650 (1995). [I]t is no violation for government to enact neutral policies that happen to benefit religion. Id. Clearly, the Establishment Clause does not compel the City to bar sectarian instruction and religious worship from its Senior Centers. 20 Second, the City asserts that its policy is necessary to remain in compliance with the Older Americans Act. To that end, the policy mirrors the language of the Older Americans Act, which requires as a condition for receiving federal funding assurances that a facility will not be used and is not intended to be used for sectarian instruction or as a place for religious worship, 42 U.S.C. § 3027(a)(14)(A)(iv). The fact that the City's policy is designed to conform with federal statutory requirements, however, does not shelter it from constitutional scrutiny. A city or state's desire for federal funds is not a compelling government interest. Thus, compliance with the Older Americans Act does not justify this viewpoint-based restriction on expression. In the context presented here, no government entity may permissibly control the viewpoint being expressed. See Rosenberger, --- U.S. at ---- - ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2518-19 (where the government expends public funds to convey its own message, it may say what it wishes; where private speech is concerned, the government may not restrict expression on the basis of viewpoint). 21 Third, the City asserts that its policy is necessary to protect the senior citizens who use its centers. The City argues that the senior citizens who use the Senior Centers are members of a captive audience who are vulnerable to religious proselytizing and coercion. Br. Appellees 27. This claim is at best tenuous, and at worst insulting to senior citizens. People in this age group are not in need of special insulation from invitations to adopt a religious faith; nor are they, as a class, more likely than other citizens to be intimidated by such invitations. Moreover, the showing of the Jesus film and the distribution of giant-print New Testaments can hardly be construed as intimidating or coercive. People who choose to attend presentations at the Senior Centers do not become part of a captive audience: attendance at such programs is purely voluntary, and people are free to come and go as they please. Nor is there any implicit coercion to attend. This is not a situation akin to the school graduation ceremony at issue in Lee v. Weisman, where those who chose to absent themselves paid the price of missing one of life's most significant occasions. 505 U.S. 577, 595, 112 S.Ct. 2649, 2659, 120 L.Ed.2d 467 (1992). Shielding senior citizens from religious speech, then, is also an inadequate justification for the City's policy.