The Satanic Temple files civil lawsuit days after being voted down at elementary school
YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — Just days after being voted down from having an after-school "Satan Club," The Satanic Temple is filing a civil law suit against the elementary school.
Mathew Kezhaya, who serves as the general counsel for The Satanic Temple, said the main issue to be litigated is whether the Northern York County School Board was discriminating against The Satanic Temple by allowing in some after school clubs but not the temple.
Each process of the lawsuit could take 18 months up to two years to be completed, Kezhaya said.
The process could be even longer if the Supreme Court took the case.
School officials made discrete statements on the record that if The Satanic Temple removed "Satan" from the name, it would improve the chances it has of becoming a club, according to Kezhaya.
Furthering the case of The Satanic Temple, Kezhaya said, the Northern York County superintendent claimed to be concerned with public backlash due to the lack of interested parties. Kezhaya said this is proof their club's communicative activities popularity was improperly considered when determining their future with equal access to government property, the school.
According to Kezhaya, this goes against the First Amendment.
"The First Amendment prohibits a government from considering the popularity of communicative activity when determining whether to facilitate that communicative activity on equal terms with other, similarly situated, groups," he said.
