Description: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Sunday school program for at-risk youth thrown out of its public meeting place by the East Baton Rouge Recreation and Park Commission due to a ban on religious activities. The program operated at a public park for five years but was kicked out due to the ban, even though the commission allowed at least one other religious group to hold an event at the park.
Sidewalk Sunday School no longer banned in public park
East Baton Rouge park commission amends policy to allow religious activities
Friday, Jul 12, 2013
Attorney sound bite: Joel Oster
“Faith-based groups have the same constitutionally protected freedom as any other community group to hold activities at a public park,” said Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster. “We commend the commission for recognizing that such groups shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination–especially a group like this that has provided such selfless service to at-risk youth and their parents for many years.”
Voices of Mercy Outreach Ministries obtained permission from the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge to use Cadillac Street Park for its Sidewalk Sunday School ministry outreach in 2005. Five years after granting permission to use the park, the commission notified the ministry that its outreach events violated a policy that prohibits all religious use of parks the commission operates, even though the commission allowed at least one other religious group to hold an event at the park.
Voices of Mercy has not been permitted to use the park since March 2010 and has been frustrated from ministering to youth living in low-income communities surrounding Cadillac Street Park. The ban greatly diminished the ministry’s outreach.
As a result of the settlement in O’Neal v. Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, the park commission has agreed to amend its Special Event Permit Policy and allow the group to meet at the park for four months without security and insurance and with the opportunity to reapply for a permit at the expiration of that time.
- Pronunciation guide: Oster (OH’-stir)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.