West Side Community Schools v. Mergens

In 1990, a senior at Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska asked the principal for permission to start an after school Christian club. The principal denied saying that it was against the law to have in a public school. Congress had addressed the issue in 1984. In the Equal Access Act was constitutional under which allowed religious and political clubs if they let students form other kinds of student interest clubs.

 

 

The Supreme Court ruled against the school. They said that its allowed because "Schools don't necessarily support or endorse student the speech that it permits" and that "Allowing students to meet on campus to discuss religion after school did not mean that the school sponsors that religion."

 

If public schools only allow clubs that pertain to the curriculum, the an Italian club for Italian class, it can exclude clubs that don't connect to its education. Once schools allow student interest clubs, like chess club, they can't exclude religious, political, gay/lesbian, or any other clubs.

 

Today, this affects our school systems by forcing them to let us have the clubs that we want, as long as they have other student interest clubs.