The Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York

Issue: (1) Whether the government engages in viewpoint discrimination when it excludes expression that is in all other respects permitted in the forum because it is labeled a “religious worship service”; (2) whether the government creates a designated public forum by opening its facilities broadly to any expression “pertaining to the welfare of the community,” so that it must justify the content-based exclusion of religious expression by a compelling state interest; (3) whether government concern about violating the Establishment Clause, and not an actual violation of that Clause, justifies the exclusion of private religious expression from a generally open forum; and (4) whether the government policy expressly excluding “religious worship services” from this forum violates the Free Exercise Clause.

Briefs and Documents

Certiorari-stage documents

• Opinion below (2d Cir.)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Petitioners' reply
• Amicus brief of Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
• Amicus brief of Council of Churches of the City of New York
• Amicus brief of First Amendment Scholars
• Amicus brief of Foundation for Moral Law