ATLANTA — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys secured a settlement Monday with Atlanta Public Schools that will result in official recognition of a Christian student club that was repeatedly denied access to the same rights, benefits, and privileges given to all other student clubs at Sutton Middle School. In March, ADF attorneys filed suit against the district on behalf of a Christian student and his mother, claiming that school officials violated their constitutional rights by discriminating against the club because it is religious.

“Christian student groups shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “We are pleased that the district has agreed to recognize and honor the Student to Student Club, which is entitled to the same benefits given to all other student clubs on campus. The First Amendment and federal law prohibit this kind of discrimination against student groups, and this has been established through decades of court precedent. School officials now recognize that it is unconstitutional to deny equal treatment to a student club just because it is religious.”

From Fall 2008 through the spring semester of this year, Atlanta Public Schools officials repeatedly refused to treat the Student to Student Club equally to other clubs. A number of other non-curriculum-related student-led-clubs--including Power Over Prejudice, the Puppetry Club, and the Knitting Club--have been permitted to meet free of charge at Sutton Middle School and are entitled to a number of other benefits and privileges, including the ability to publicize club meetings and activities through a variety of communicative channels.

However, school officials singled out the STS club for discriminatory treatment, forcing the club to pay monthly rent for meeting space and excluding the club from accessing any of the privileges extended to other Sutton student clubs--including all means to communicate its activities. School officials also prohibited STS club members from talking about the club with interested students or parents while on school grounds.

Under the terms of the settlement stated in the voluntary dismissal filed by ADF attorneys, the district granted the club equal access to the school as well as all benefits and privileges extended to other recognized clubs. The district also agreed to continue equal treatment, reimburse rental fees charged to the club that were not charged to other groups, and pay attorneys’ fees.

ADF-allied attorneys Jonathan Crumly and S. Fenn Little of Atlanta-based Little, Crumly & Chambliss, LLP, assisted with the lawsuit, Shelton v. Atlanta Public Schools, which was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.