The Seventh Circuit Court has ruled a school who rented a church facility for a graduation violated the Establishment Clause to the Constitution.
The school’s gymnasium was deemed too uncomfortable for hosting the graduation ceremony; as a result, the school sought a different venue. They settled on renting a church facility. A group sued the school for its decision. The school won every court case up until it was appealed to the entire Seventh Circuit Court. The Seventh Circuit ruled the church’s “pervasively religious” facility and conventional religious symbols constituted a violation on the part of the school.
The school made it clear its decision to rent the church facility had nothing to do with religion; it was simply about finding a comfortable venue for its graduation ceremony. As Rory Gary of Alliance Defending Freedom put it, “The Seventh Circuit’s reasoning is deeply troubling because it supports the atheists’ view that religion is a dangerous force that must be isolated and contained—a view which has no basis in the Constitution.”
