California Christian Schools to Proceed with Lawsuit Against CountyAug 30, 2006 Becket Fund and Redwood Christian Schools Prepare for Trial Against Alameda County The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty continued its civil rights win streak with another victory today, this time based on the merits of its claims regarding the rights of a California religious organization to build a new school on its own property. The Becket Fund is a non-profit, public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C. that protects the free public expression of all religious traditions. They filed a law suit in the Northern District of California against Alameda County in behalf of Redwood Christian Schools which had been denied the right to build a new school on land it owned in the county. County officials countered by seeking to get the case tossed out, but Judge Samuel Conti ruled today that the case should, indeed, go to trial on 15 of its 17 most important claims. "For nearly five years, Alameda County has used every trick in the book to keep us from having our day in court. Well, that day is about to come," said Kevin Seamus Hasson, founder and president of The Becket Fund. "We don't saddle up to come in second," he added. Also at stake is $30 million in damages being claimed by Redwood Christian for lost tuition income and increased construction costs. Attorneys for The Becket Fund are arguing that Redwood Christian has the right to use land it owned to build a new school based on the First Amendment of the Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). Judge Conti agreed that the case should go to trial. "They keep coming at us and we keep knocking them down," said Hasson.
"We won the right to press forward on all of our RLUIPA-based civil rights claims," said Hasson, "and we are confident that the trial will result in a decision in favor of Redwood Christian." Although Redwood Christian Schools currently serve over 800 students in grades K-12 in the East Bay, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco, the school has experienced a 25 percent plunge in enrollment since the county began keeping the construction issue tied up in court. The schools serve over 700 families throughout the East Bay, representing more than 130 churches and over 30 Christian denominations.
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