## Facts

- Milford Central School, a New York public elementary school, adopted a community-use policy permitting after-hours access for specified community purposes but barring use “for religious purposes.”
- The Good News Club, a private Christian club for children ages 6–12, applied to hold weekly after-school meetings in the school cafeteria.
- The application described meetings that included singing, a Bible lesson, and Scripture memorization, aimed at teaching morals and character from a Christian viewpoint.
- The superintendent denied the request, concluding the meetings were the equivalent of religious worship and fell within the policy’s prohibition.
- The Club sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violations of free speech, free exercise, and equal protection; the district court and Second Circuit upheld the exclusion.
- The Supreme Court granted review and reversed.

## Issues

1. Whether a public school that created a limited public forum for community use violated the Free Speech Clause by excluding the Club because its activities were religious.
2. Whether permitting the Club to meet on the same terms as other private groups would violate the Establishment Clause, justifying the exclusion.

## Decision

- The Court held that Milford’s exclusion of the Club from the limited public forum was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
- The Court concluded the Club addressed a permitted subject—children’s moral and character development—from a religious standpoint, and the school excluded it because of that religious viewpoint.
- The Court rejected the argument that equal access would violate the Establishment Clause.
- The Court reasoned that allowing the Club to meet after hours on the same terms as other private groups would reflect governmental neutrality rather than endorsement of religion.
- The Court emphasized that the meetings were private speech, held after the school day, and attended only with parental permission, reducing any coercion concern.

## Legal Principles

- In a limited public forum, the government may impose reasonable, subject-matter limits, but it may not discriminate based on viewpoint.
- Excluding speech because it presents otherwise permitted subject matter from a religious standpoint is viewpoint discrimination.
- Equal access for private religious speakers in a forum open to comparable private secular speakers generally does not violate the Establishment Clause when access is neutral and nonpreferential.
- Fear that observers may mistakenly perceive endorsement does not justify viewpoint-based exclusion of private speech.

## Conclusion

The Court ruled that a public elementary school that opened its facilities for community uses could not bar a Christian children’s club from meeting solely because its moral instruction was explicitly religious, and that allowing equal access in that setting did not breach the Establishment Clause.


Good News Club v. Milford Cent. Sch., 533 U.S. 98 (2001)