Opinion ID: 782211
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bronx Household I

Text: 33 In Bronx Household I, we observed that the right to exercise free speech on government property depends on the kind of forum where the speech occurs, noting that the Supreme Court has identified three kinds: the traditional public forum, the designated public forum or limited public forum, and the nonpublic forum. 127 F.3d at 211 (citing Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Def. & Educ. Fund, Inc., 473 U.S. 788, 802, 105 S.Ct. 3439, 87 L.Ed.2d 567 (1985)). Although the church argued that Middle School 206B is an open public forum where the exercise of First Amendment rights cannot be excluded absent a compelling state interest, see 127 F.3d at 212, we were not persuaded that the school was a place that has been devoted to general, unrestricted public assembly by long tradition or by policy or practice, id. at 213. Instead, we reasoned that the Board of Education, by restricting access to certain speakers and subjects, had created a limited public forum. Id. Within such a limited forum, the government may restrict access based on speaker identity and subject matter, but only if the distinctions drawn are reasonable in light of the purpose served by the forum and are viewpoint neutral. Id. at 211-12 (quoting Cornelius, 473 U.S. at 806, 105 S.Ct. 3439). 34 Having decided that the school was a limited public forum, we next addressed the question of whether the Education Board's rule prohibiting religious services and instruction is reasonable and viewpoint neutral. We held it reasonable for state legislators and school authorities to avoid identifying a public school with a particular church, when considering the effect of such identification on the minds of school children. Id. at 214. We also deemed the regulation viewpoint neutral, since it specifically permits any and all speech from a religious viewpoint. Id. We recognized that religious worship services were barred, but believed a permissible distinction could be drawn between religious worship and other forms of speech from a religious viewpoint. Id. at 215. For those reasons and because Middle School 206B was a limited public forum, we affirmed the summary judgment ruling in favor of the defendants.