The Supreme Court's recent decision in
Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98, 121 S.Ct. 2093, 150 L.Ed.2d 151 (2001), which was rendered after the district court's ruling in this case, strongly supports our holding. In
Good News, a New York school enacted a community use policy opening its building for, among other things, “instruction in any branch of education, learning or the arts” and “social, civic and recreational meetings and entertainment events, and other uses pertaining to the welfare of the community.”
Good News, 121 S.Ct. at 2098 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). A local Good News Club, a private Christian organization for children ages six to twelve, sought to hold the Club's weekly meetings in the school's cafeteria.
See id. These meetings used the recitation of Bible verses, biblical stories and songs that included references to Jesus Christ to discuss issues such as moral and character development.
See id.;
Good News Club v. Milford Cent. Sch., 202 F.3d 502, 504–06 (2d Cir.2000) (“
Good News I”). Leaders also encouraged children to accept Jesus Christ as their savior and made use of prayers to convey their message at various times.
See Good News, 121 S.Ct. at 2098; Good News I, 202 F.3d at 504–06. The school denied the Club's request on the grounds that these meetings were the equivalent of religious worship and instruction and that they violated a part of the use policy that forbade use for religious purposes.
See Good News, 121 S.Ct. at 2098. A divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ultimately agreed, finding that the subject matter of the Club's activities was “ ‘quintessentially religious,��� ” fell “ ‘outside the bounds of pure moral and character development’ ” and therefore equaled constitutional subject discrimination, not unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
Id. at 2099 (quoting
Good News I, 202 F.3d at 510–11) (internal quotation marks omitted).