Bronx Household of Faith vs. New York City Board of Education

Many have asked about our litigation with the New York City Board of Education over the issue of churches being allowed to rent a public school building after hours for worship services. It has been over 12 years since we first went to court.

As things stand currently, we are meeting under a permanent injunction from the Federal District Court. The City has appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. They have asked the lawyers for both sides to re-submit briefs and to appear before them (again) for oral arguments. We are waiting for them to tell us when that will be.

In the meantime, we continue to meet in the school.

Please pray.

1994 ~ New York City Board of Education rejects an application from the Bronx Household of

Faith church to rent a public school building for Sunday services.

1995 ~ ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence, then an ADF-allied attorney, files a lawsuit on

behalf of the church in federal district court. ADF provides funding for the case.

1996 ~ The church loses in federal district court and appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

1997 ~ The church loses at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Lorence files request for review to the U.S. Supreme Court.

1998 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court denies review, and the case is seemingly over.

June 2001 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of equal access for middle-school Bible clubs in the ADF-packed case Good News Club v. Milford Central Schools. In the majority decision, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas writes that Bronx may have been "wrongly decided."

The church again asks to rent the public school building, and its request is again denied.

September 2001 ~ Lorence files a new lawsuit in federal district court based on the precedent set in Good News Club v. Milford Central Schools.

Summer 2002 ~ The district court judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit who ruled against the church in 1997 now rules in favor of it, granting Bronx Household of Faith a temporary injunction and denying a Board of Education request to keep the church from meeting in the school pending appeal. The Bronx Household of Faith, after seven years, can now hold Sunday worship services in the school building.

October 2002 ~ The U.S. Justice Department files a friend-of-the-court brief in favor of the ADF position and the church's right to meet in the public school.

June 2003 ~ The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rules in favor of the Bronx Household of Faith, upholding the lower court's temporary injunction . The case now goes back to federal district court to make the injunction permanent.

November 2005 ~ The federal disrect court makes the preliminarty injunction permanent. The school district appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

July 2007 ~ Two judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rule against the Bronx Household of Faith on a technicality issue. The case is sent back down to federal district court for reconsideration

November 2007 ~ The federal district court once again files a permanent injunction in favor of the church. The school board appealed to the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.