MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (WordNews.org) Sept. 3, 2012 – A Minneapolis public school district must reinstate the Good News Club, a federal appeal court has ruled.
The U.S. District Court of Appeals ruled the Minneapolis Special School District No. 1 engaged in viewpoint discrimination when it ousted the Child Evangelism Fellowship-sponsored club from  offering “enrichment programming from a religious perspective.”
Now, the school must reinstate the club.

“We are extremely grateful for this decision and look forward to the opportunity of serving interested students at the Jenny Lind Elementary School,” said Tom Levanos, executive director of operations for CEF.
The ruling overturns the decision by a lower court which CEF claims misinterpreted the 2001 Supreme Court decision in Good News Club v. Milford Central School. The Supreme Court decision upheld the free speech rights of the Good News Club.
According to the court, “there is no logical difference in kind between the invocation of Christianity by the Club and the invocation of teamwork, loyalty or patriotism by other associations to provide the foundations for their lessons.”
Minneapolis Special School District No. 1 removed the Good News Club from its after-school program in 2009 based on the concerns of a newly-hired site coordinator who overheard a prayer and reference to Jesus Christ during a GNC meeting, CEF said.
The Good News Club had been meeting at the school, after school hours, using the same activities of prayer, Bible lessons and games, without objection since 2000. The district’s decision resulted in the club’s attendance dropping from 47 students to five students in 2010.
Through the years, the number of court cases involving discrimination against GNCs has steadily decreased as the Supreme Court ruling has become more well-known, said Mr. Matt Staver, of Liberty Counsel, who represented CEF before the federal appeals court.
He said there are challenges each week that are resolved without litigation. Few of these challenges bear the marks of overt hostility towards religion. According to Mr. Staver, most cases are the result of misinformation about the First Amendment and are usually resolved without litigation. When litigation has been necessary, Liberty Counsel has won every case.