United States Ninth Circuit

In an action alleging Equal Access Act and constitutional violations brought against a school district and other defendants arising from plaintiff's attempt to form a student Bible study club at a high school, summary judgment for defendants is reversed where: 1) although the district did not violate the Act or plaintiff's First Amendment rights by applying its non-discrimination policy to require plaintiff to remove its general membership provision; nevertheless, 2) to the extent plaintiff alleged the district violated the Act or the First Amendment by refusing to provide an exemption to its non-discrimination policy-based on plaintiff's religion or the content of its speech summary judgment was error. (Superseding opinion)

Appellate Information

• Argued 07/27/2006
• Decided 04/25/2008
• Published 04/25/2008

Judges

• Before:  J. CLIFFORD WALLACE, KIM McLANE WARDLAW, and RAYMOND C. FISHER, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Nathan W. Kellum, Alliance Defense Fund, Memphis, TN, for the plaintiffs-appellants., Jane M. Whicher, Port Townsend, WA, for amicus American Civil Liberties Union., Sara J. Rose, Washington, DC, for amicus Americans United for Separation of Church and State., David F. McDowell, Los Angeles, CA, for amicus Anti-Defamation League.


• For Appellees:
  
• Michael B. Tierney, Mercer Island, WA, for the defendants-appellees.