Lawrence, MA - Liberty Counsel filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Lawrence, Massachusetts, for its public library's unconstitutional policy and its denial of access for a civic and educational program that included religious content.
The library meeting rooms are offered free of charge for nonprofit groups, but the Lawrence Public Library Meeting Room Policy discriminates on the basis of religious content and viewpoint: "Religious groups may use the Library's meeting rooms for administrative purposes but shall not be allowed use for the sake of proselytizing...or otherwise influencing people to a particular belief or point of view."
The Library's Mission Statement states, "The freedom to pursue knowledge is a foundation of our democracy....[T]he Library exists to preserve the free development and expression of ideas essential for an informed citizenry."
"The religious viewpoint discrimination not only violates the Library's own mission statement, but it is simply unconstitutional," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. The Supreme Court has struck down countless attempts by local government bodies to remove religion from the public arena. Public libraries are a marketplace of ideas, and governments cannot censor religion from the marketplace.
"Public libraries, once open forums of free expression and thought, are being used by so called 'progressives' to censor or suppress the right of individuals to speak on political and moral issues of the day," Staver pointed out. "When political correctness uses the government to enforce its sense of morality, Liberty Counsel gets involved."
Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
