PA School's 'Satan Club' Sparks First Amendment Lawsuit

PENNSYLVANIA — The Satanic Temple has sued a Lehigh Valley school district , claiming officials violated students’ First Amendment rights by not allowing an after-school club to meet on district grounds.

The lawsuit against Saucon Valley Schools centers around the After School Satan Club at the district’s middle school, which school officials approved and then quickly banned from using district facilities in February of this year.

This school district is in Hellertown (Northampton County), and had to close after a man threatened to "shoot everyone" because they approved the club.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Dechert LLP filed the lawsuit in federal court March 30 on behalf of The Satanic Temple. The plaintiffs claim the district violated students’ First Amendment rights by banning the club from using school facilities for the rest of the school year.

The district rescinded the club’s permission to meet at the middle school on Feb. 24, according to court documents. This was eight days after it approved The Satanic Temple’s application to use district facilities – namely, a room in the school.

The district allows a Christian organization called the Good News Club to meet on school grounds, plaintiffs claim, adding that the district discriminated against the club and The Satanic Temple:

“Defendant is unconstitutionally denying TST access to school facilities, while simultaneously allowing the same access to favored religious groups,” counsel for the plaintiffs wrote.

School officials claimed, in part, that the After-School Satan Club (ASSC for short in court documents) did not do enough to distance itself from the school.

Saucon Valley Schools officials have not returned Patch's request for comment.

Related article—After School Satan Club Voted Down By PA School District

The Satanic Temple, headquartered in Massachusetts, is a non-theistic religious organization and nonprofit corporation. It is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a church and a religious organization, according to court documents.

The organization sponsors the after school club for students aged 5-12 at schools across the U.S. The Satanic Temple says members do not worship Satan, who is a being of great evil for believers of Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). Rather, they see his depiction as “a literary figure who represents a metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny, championing the human mind and spirit, and seeking justice and egalitarianism for all.”

According to the lawsuit, the Satanic Temple (TST) asked the Saucon Valley School District on Feb. 1 for permission to start an After-School Satan Club at the middle school.

A local parent requested the club in the district, the Temple said; other organizations like the Scouts, the Good News Club, and youth sports associations like Girls on the Run use district facilities, too, according to documents.

The district approved the application on Feb. 16 and TST was aiming for a first meeting in March, documents show. Staff began preparing permission slips and parent introductory letters for any potential members, and included language in them that the After-School Satan Club was not an activity of the middle school or of Saucon Valley School District, the lawsuit claims.

The Satanic Temple claims that Superintendent Jaime Vlasaty told them flyers could not be provided to students and families for non-affiliated school organizations.

“When pressed further and informed that District officials had previously sent home permission slips for the Good News Club, Vlasaty claimed that she was ‘new to the Superintendent role’ and ‘realized that this [District policy] was not being followed by our building administrators consistently and has since been resolved,’” the lawsuit claims.

Superintendent Vlasaty sent an email to district parents about the club on Feb. 20, which plaintiffs say “announced the District’s decision to approve TST’s application but made clear that the approval was made reluctantly because it was required by law.”

The lawsuit claims that district officials posted the same message on the district’s official Facebook page, emphasizing “that the ASSC is not a District approved club.”

The next day, someone left a threatening message at the middle school, referencing the district’s decision to let the ASSC use campus property. The district closed all school buildings that evening and on Feb. 22, records show.

Authorities said a man who left the voicemail said they were going to "come in there and shoot everybody."

The message also "expressed displeasure with Saucon Valley Middle School for allowing the After School Satan Club to utilize the school facilities," the Northampton County DA's office said.

Police in North Carolina arrested a suspect in connection with that threatening message on Feb. 22, and charged him with terroristic threats. Related article —Threats To 'Shoot Everyone' At Pa School Club Leads To Arrest

Then, on Feb. 23, Vlasaty sent out another email to parents announcing that, “[d]ue to this disruption and threat to the safety and welfare of our students and staff, I will be recommending a full review of the Satan Club’s use of our facility,” court records show.

She told TST that certain social media posts advertising the upcoming meeting did not comply with board policy, the lawsuit says, and included no language specifying that the club was unaffiliated with the district.

Vlasaty further said that the “advertisement,” which TST claims was a Facebook post by someone not in their organization, disrupted district operations and could no longer meet in school facilities.

The superintendent emailed parents that same day, and posted on Facebook, that the district decided to rescind approval for the ASSC because they did not meet district requirements and alluded to the “chaos” the Feb. 21 threat brought on, the lawsuit states.

A number of other groups who have met at the school have given out letters without this particular disclaimer, the plaintiffs claim.

The plaintiffs are asking, in part, for the district to allow the ASSC to meet at Saucon Valley Middle School and make up for any missed meetings. The Satanic Temple and its representatives are also seeking an order declaring the district’s actions to be unconstitutional under the First Amendment’s clauses on free speech, free exercise, and establishment.

The plaintiffs are also seeking monetary relief for damages and attorney’s fees, and an order that the district cannot retaliate against The Satanic Temple, After School Satan Club, or any meeting attendees.