ACLU Civil Liberties Union of Delaware
Defending Individual Rights and Personal Freedom
Religion & Belief
January 2009
The Good Shepherd Church, an Episcopal church, has been using the William B. Keene Elementary School for Sunday services for some time now. In August 2008, the Delaware Association for Humanism wrote to Dr. Lillian M. Lowery, Superintendent of the Christina School District, asserting that “church services in public schools are in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” The Association also asserted that the Church’s use of Keene violated the District’s own policy. Based on that letter, the District asked the Church to cease its use of the school by the end of October.
As a general rule, public buildings must be made available to religious groups on the same basis that they are made available to the general public. Because the District permits a wide variety of other groups to use its facilities, we contacted the District on the Church’s behalf. In January 2009, we reached an amicable resolution with the District, whereby the Church will be permitted to continue using the facilities on the same terms as it has been using them all along.
Jorgina Dennis –accommodation for religious headcovering
In April 2008, Ms. R., a nurse who had been hired to provide medical care at the New Castle County Detention Center (“NCCDC”) was informed that she could not wear her khimar, or religious headcovering, at work. Ms. R. is Muslim, and as part of her religious faith and practice, wears a headscarf when she is in public and when she is at home, if she is in the presence of men who are not part of her immediate family. Ms. R. has studied religious texts, thought deeply, and prayed about her practice of covering her head and hair. To Ms. R., wearing a headscarf is a reminder of her faith, of the importance of modesty in her religion, and of her religious obligations, as well as a symbol of her own control over who may see the more intimate parts of her body.
Ms. R. requested a reasonable accommodation for her khimar, but was denied. We contacted Ms. R.’s employer and NCCDC to advocate on her behalf, and in May 2009, Ms. R. was informed that she would be provided the reasonable accommodation that she had requested.