March 1, 2001

ORTHODOX UNION WILL CALL ON SUPREME COURT
TO ALLOW AFTER-SCHOOL ACCESS FOR RELIGIOUS GROUPS

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation's
largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, will be supporting the
appeal of a Christian youth club when its case is heard tomorrow by the
U.S. Supreme Court.

Following a New York State law, the Milford school district enacted a
policy that allowed social and civic organizations to use its public
school facilities after hours for meetings, but barred religious groups
from using the same facilities.  Thus, Milford refused to allow the Good
News Club, a Christian high school group, to meet on premises after
school.  The Club's meetings include Bible study, brief prayers and a
discussion of moral issues.  The Club sued the school district asserting
that their free speech rights were being violated because they were
being denied the use of facilities after-hours solely on the basis of
the religious viewpoint of their speech.  The Club's suit was rejected
by lower federal courts.

The Orthodox Union joined a friend of the court brief in support of the
Good News Club arguing that Milford's policy and the New York law
mandates unequal and, therefore, unconstitutional discriminatory
treatment of religion.

Nathan Diament, political and legal affairs director for the Union,
issued the following statement in connection with the Supreme Court
hearing:

The Orthodox Jewish community believes strongly in the freedom of
religion guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and we believe a
fundamental component of that freedom is that religious Americans must
be afforded equal treatment by the government.  To exclude an
after-school club that is religious while admitting every other group,
no matter what their views might be, is pernicious.

This is not the first time New York's public school authorities have
shut their doors to religion; they have refused to rent rooms to
neighborhood congregations that needed a place to pray on the weekends.

This policy must end and we are confident that the Supreme Court will
end it.

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