U.S. Code » Title 20 » Chapter CHAPTER 52— EDUCATION FOR ECONOMIC SECURITY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER VIII— EQUAL ACCESS

20 U.S.C. § 4071

Denial of equal access prohibited

Read at: OLRCuscode.house.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov JustiaTitle 20 CasesGoogle Scholar
(a) Restriction of limited open forum on basis of religious, political, philosophical, or other speech content prohibited

It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings.

(b) “Limited open forum” defined

A public secondary school has a limited open forum whenever such school grants an offering to or opportunity for one or more noncurriculum related student groups to meet on school premises during noninstructional time.

(c) Fair opportunity criteriaSchools shall be deemed to offer a fair opportunity to students who wish to conduct a meeting within its limited open forum if such school uniformly provides that—(1) the meeting is voluntary and student-initiated;(2) there is no sponsorship of the meeting by the school, the government, or its agents or employees;(3) employees or agents of the school or government are present at religious meetings only in a nonparticipatory capacity;(4) the meeting does not materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities within the school; and(5) nonschool persons may not direct, conduct, control, or regularly attend activities of student groups.(d) Construction of subchapter with respect to certain rightsNothing in this subchapter shall be construed to authorize the United States or any State or political subdivision thereof—(1) to influence the form or content of any prayer or other religious activity;(2) to require any person to participate in prayer or other religious activity;(3) to expend public funds beyond the incidental cost of providing the space for student-initiated meetings;(4) to compel any school agent or employee to attend a school meeting if the content of the speech at the meeting is contrary to the beliefs of the agent or employee;(5) to sanction meetings that are otherwise unlawful;(6) to limit the rights of groups of students which are not of a specified numerical size; or(7) to abridge the constitutional rights of any person.(e) Federal financial assistance to schools unaffected

Notwithstanding the availability of any other remedy under the Constitution or the laws of the United States, nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to authorize the United States to deny or withhold Federal financial assistance to any school.

(f) Authority of schools with respect to order, discipline, well-being, and attendance concerns

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to limit the authority of the school, its agents or employees, to maintain order and discipline on school premises, to protect the well-being of students and faculty, and to assure that attendance of students at meetings is voluntary.

(Pub. L. 98–377, title VIII, § 802, Aug. 11, 1984, 98 Stat. 1302.)Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesShort Title

Pub. L. 98–377, title VIII, § 801, Aug. 11, 1984, 98 Stat. 1302, provided that: “This title [enacting this subchapter] may be cited as ‘The Equal Access Act’.”

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 102 cases (14 in the last 5 years), 1985–2026 · leading case: Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educatio, 82 F.4th 664 (9th Cir. 2023).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educatio, 82 F.4th 664 (9th Cir. 2023). · cites it 8× “” 20 U.S.C. § 4071 (a)–(b); see also Bd. of Educ.”
Boyd Cnty. High Sch. Gay Straight All. v. Bd. of Educ., 258 F. Supp. 2d 667 (E.D. Ky. 2003). · cites it 18× “Plaintiffs claim that Defendants violated their rights under the Equal Access Act, 20 U.S.C. § 4071 , et seq., and their First Amendment rights of expression and association by denying the Boyd County High School Gay Straight Alliance the same access to school facilities given…”
Bd. of Ed. of Westside Cmty. Schs. (Dist. 66) v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226 (1990). · cites it 6× “" 20 U. S. C. §§ 4071 (a) and (b). Specifically, the Act provides: "It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any…”
Borden v. Sch. Dist. of the Twp. of East Brunswick, 523 F.3d 153 (3rd Cir. 2008). · cites it 4× “In Mergens , a school district refused access to a Christian student group, and the group brought suit arguing that the school district was in violation of the Equal Access Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 4071 et seq., which prohibits public secondary schools from denying equal access to…”
East High Gay/Straight All. v. Bd. of Educ. of Salt Lake City Sch. Dist., 81 F. Supp. 2d 1166 (D. Utah 1999). · cites it 9× “It is the express decision of the Board of Education of Salt Lake City School District not to allow a “limited open forum” as that is defined by the Federal Equal Access Act, 20 U.S.C. § 4071 . (Pl.Ex. 112, annexed to Second Declaration of David S.”
Am. Humanist Ass'n v. Douglas Cnty. Sch. Dist. Re-1, 859 F.3d 1243 (10th Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “They allege that defendants violated the First Amendment by endorsing Christianity, and violated the EAA, 20 U.S.C. § 4071 (c), by permitting faculty to participate in Christian student groups.”
Bronx Household of Faith v. Bd. OF EDUC., NY, 492 F.3d 89 (2d Cir. 2007). · cites it 2× “1990) (considering at the same time whether the school had in fact tightened its control over expressive activity on its premises and whether it was engaging in impermissible viewpoint discrimination).”
Caudillo v. Lubbock Indep. Sch. Dist., 311 F. Supp. 2d 550 (N.D. Tex. 2004). · cites it 11× “By doing so, the Equal Access Act, 20 U.S.C. § 4071 (a) et seq., applies. LISD has adopted an abstinence policy applying to all matters concerning sexual activity.”
Carver Middle Sch. Gay-Straight All. v. Sch. Bd. of Lake Cnty., Florida, 842 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2016). · cites it 2× “20 U.S.C. § 4071 (a). The Act defines “secondary school” as any “public school which provides secondary education as determined by State law.”
Lamb's Chapel v. Ctr. Moriches Union Free Sch. Dist., 770 F. Supp. 91 (E.D.N.Y 1991). · cites it 9× “at 2363 (citing 20 U.S.C. § 4071 (a)). Respondents also contended that the School Board’s actions deprived them of their first and fourteenth amendment rights of freedom of speech, association, and the free exercise of religion.”
Colin Ex Rel. Colin v. Orange Unified Sch. Dist., 83 F. Supp. 2d 1135 (C.D. Cal. 2000). · cites it 8× “See 20 U.S.C. § 4071 (a), (b). In the words of the Act: It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who…”
Truth v. Kent Sch. Dist., 542 F.3d 634 (9th Cir. 2008). · cites it 2× “Therefore, once it is established that the secondary school receives federal funds and has created a limited open forum, the club must demonstrate two additional elements to prevail: 1) a denial of equal access, or fair opportunity, or discrimination; 2) that is based on the…”
Show all 102 citing cases →
— 20 U.S.C. § 4071(b) — 1 case
Garnett v. Renton Sch. Dist. No. 403, 675 F. Supp. 1268 (W.D. Wash. 1987).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.