Judge: Enfield Can't Use Church For Graduation

The Enfield Board of Education has been told it may not conduct its graduation ceremonies at First Cathedral in Bloomfield. Ruling on a suit brought by the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, US District Judge Janet Hall said using the church for graduations would be unconstitutional.

"We are pleased that the court has found that holding a public high school graduation ceremony in an overtly religious setting is inappropriate when comparable secular facilities are available," said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut.

As recounted in the judge's decision, the Enfield Board on January 26 voted six to three to hold its two 2010 graduations at the schools themselves, but that vote was rescinded by a five to three vote on February 23.

Following that vote, Judge Hall finds, the Family Institute of Connecticut “began to increase its efforts to lobby the Enfield School Board to hold graduation ceremonies at First Cathedral. The record indicates that Chairman Stokes was in close contact with the FIC, beginning in early March 2010, on the issue of Enfield’s high school graduations. In March and April, Stokes and FIC Executive Director Peter Wolfgang exchanged numerous electronic messages containing discussions of strategy on how to best ensure that the Enfield graduations would be held at First Cathedral.”

The school system explored other off-site venues, Judge Hall found, including Western New England College, Springfield Symphony Hall, the Mass Mutual Center, the Bushnell Theater, XL Center, and the Connecticut Convention Center. “Some of the alternative sites compare favorably to the Cathedral in terms of the factors” considered, she said, including availability, costs, parking, security, seating capacity and handicap availability, among others.

In her conclusion, Judge Hall writes: “Having considered all three analytical frameworks for determining whether the government action at issue has a principal effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, the court concludes that it does not have such an effect, and therefore violates the Establishment Clause. By holding public high school graduations in an identifiable church, under the circumstances and context of this situation that would be known to a reasonable observer, Enfield Public Schools endorses religion. By attempting to “neutralize” the First Cathedral by covering up many (albeit not all) of its religious images, Enfield Public Schools unconstitutionally entangles itself with religion. And finally, by requiring a graduating senior -- or a parent of one -- to enter First Cathedral in order to be able to participate in his or her graduation -- or to watch their child graduate -- Enfield Public Schools has coerced plaintiffs to support religion.“