Legal Question in Constitutional Law in California

Re: Separation of Church and State Question

The standard is for the government not to support religion, not to be antangonistic to it. For the University not to allow a student group to post because of their religion or religous speech may be discriminating against the group on the basis of religion which is also a constitutional issue. Furthermore, the group's first amendment right to free speech would also be infringed upon.

However, being a political issue, an unending argument may be raised. Which side is adopted may be a reflection of the political will of the society of the current time.

Please be referred to the Mount Soledad cross arising from a case concerning a monumental cross in San Diego in which the courts decided that the 60ft plus high cross must be removed from the nationally owned land. President Bush intervened and had the site and cross dedicated as a national memorial through a grant of the city. The cross remained even after a court ordering its removal perhaps two decades earlier.

Perhaps it was just superior legal manuvering of the defendant City of San Diego attorneys, politics, or my initial analysis. If you have a half of million dollars to attempt to stop the posting, then you will find an attorney to take the case. Because attorney's fees are awardable in such cases, there is one chance in a million that you'd be able to find an attorney to take it with the hope of an attorney fee award at the end.

Re: Separation of Church and State Question

The university has to treat religious and non-religious organizations equally. If other organizations were allowed to place messages in the bulletin, then the university was probably not just allowed but required to let the religious group do likewise. To forbid religious groups to do what other groups are allowed to do would be to discriminate against religious speech, which would be unconstitutional.