San Francisco, USA - A California library can bar a religious group from holding worship services in library meeting rooms open to the public, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday.
The dispute revolves around an evangelical Christian church's efforts to hold religious meetings in rooms of a Contra Costa County library used for educational, cultural and community events.
The dispute over use of the space in a county-run facility is one of many in which U.S. courts have sought a balance between freedom of religion and the country's traditional separation between church and state.
The group, the Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries, sought to hold meetings outside of churches to attract those who might not otherwise attend services. When the Antioch, California library staff did not allow meetings because of their prohibition against religious services, the religious group sued alleging discrimination.
A district court backed the religious group by granting a preliminary injunction on First Amendment grounds guaranteeing free speech. But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed in a split 2-1 decision by judges on Wednesday.
Judge Richard Paez wrote that that county's decision was permissible because the U.S. constitution did not guarantee that all forms of protected speech can be heard on government property.
"We conclude that the Antioch Library meeting room is a limited public forum and that enforcement of the county's policy to exclude religious worship services from the meeting room is reasonable in light of the forum's purpose."
The ruling said that the religious group could hold secular activities at the library.