Forum fallacy

Law | Notorious court says library can bar a church from its public meeting room | Stewart Rutledge

A panel of The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late last month barred a small California church from holding religious meetings in a room specifically designated for public use.

From the same court that wanted to eliminate "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, a 2-1 decision found that Contra Costa County did not intrude on the free exercise of religion when it prohibited Faith Center Church from holding religious meetings in a public meeting room at Antioch Public Library.

Casting the deciding vote for the county, District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton complained that the "inability of the High Court to adhere to the distinction [between religious speech and secular speech]" has resulted in a "sorry state of the law." Karlton, a District Court judge sitting on the 9th Circuit by temporary assignment, used his moment in the spotlight to lament that "one can only pray for the [Supreme] Court's enlightenment." Ironically, it is this type of public prayer that Karlton seeks to prohibit.