William C. Odle, Wednesday, June 02, 2010 | Filed under: First Amendment
School policies restricting advertising by non-school related groups have come under fire by various religious organizations, who argue that such restrictions result in viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment. A federal court decision handed down last week from Missouri sheds light on these issues and suggests how to place reasonable, constitutional limits on scarce school information resources.
The case focused on the Lee's Summit School District's polices on advertising to students by outside groups. Faced with growing requests to distribute informational flyers, the District limited those groups permitted frequent distribution to select organizations, such as the PTA, the Chamber of Commerce and specific community youth sports associations, with whom it had a close affiliation and history of support. Plaintiff conducted a religious based soccer camp and alleged that the denial of the same opportunity to was due to its viewpoint and unconstitutional.
The court disagreed, finding that the District's policy was reasonably intended to limit the mass of papers sent home with students, and that the District's refusal to distribute the plaintiff's flyers was not based on the plaintiff's religious views. The Court observed that to hold otherwise would be to force the District into an "all or nothing" choice of either distributing flyers for any group who might request it or none at all. The ruling should provide some guidance for school districts facing similar issues. However, it remains subject to appeal and, as with most things First Amendment, there is likely to be more litigation in other jurisdictions, so caution is advised.