Judge refuses again to bar disruptive woman from Hollywood church

Apr 12, 2002

A California Superior Court judge today refused for a second time to grant a request from the Church of Christ in Hollywood to issue an order barring a woman from their premises who has been disrupting their services and other church activities for more than a year. The church will now appeal the judge's decision to California's Second District Court of Appeals.

Lady Cage-Barile is a former member of the Church of Christ in Hollywood. Because of her long history of disruption, the church notified her in mid-February that it was terminating her membership, and told her she was no longer permitted on church property. But she has continued to intrude on services, shouting at the minister and other church leaders, calling them "Satan's agents." Finally, on February 28, the church applied to the Superior Court for a court order barring the woman from the property. On March 12, Judge David Yaffe refused to grant the order, saying that her actions were "pure speech," and thus protected by the U.S. and California constitutions.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty joined the case as co-counsel on March 28, and worked with local counsel Mark Hartzler to prepare a detailed brief making a second request for a temporary restraining order that was presented to Judge Yaffe today. The brief argued that "a church has a fundamental right to determine who is and who is not a member," and noted that the U.S. Supreme Court held in Boy Scouts v. Dale that "[f]reedom of association . . . plainly presupposes a freedom not to associate." Moreover, the brief argued, "The church is not a public forum for free speech purposes, or a public accommodation as the term is understood in the civil rights context." Judge Yaffe had said earlier that church bylaws didn't provide a procedure for expelling a member, but today's church brief points out that California court precedent provides that "a court may look beyond bylaws."

The church brief adds that the situation has become more serious in the last several weeks, since Cage-Barile "now spends part of her Sundays ripping religious literature and notices off the Church walls," in addition to her other disruptive activity.

Relevant Cases

• Church of Christ in Hollywood v. Lady Cage-Barile