NEW YORK – A recent federal court ruling means New York City could ban a church – the Bronx Household of Faith – from renting public school buildings for Sunday worship services.

Other groups could still rent space, but churches – whose members pay school taxes like everyone else – could be banned.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling this week in the case that has dragged on for two decades. It addresses the question of whether religious groups should be allowed to rent space in New York City’s public school buildings when they’re unoccupied, Gothamist.com reports.

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The city has argued since 1995 against religious services in public schools after hours, but a federal injunction in 2012 allowed services to continue as the case made its way through the court system.

Attorney Jordan Lorence, who represents the Bronx Household of Faith, issued a statement explaining why the Second Circuit Court ruling is wrong, and what the organization plans to do about it, the news site reports.

“The First Amendment prohibits New York City from singling out worship services and excluding them from empty school buildings. The reason is because the buildings are generally available to all individuals and community groups for any activity ‘pertaining to the welfare of the community,’” Lorence said.

“There is no subsidy of churches here. Churches and religious groups pay the same uniform rates that everyone else does to use the schools. We are seriously considering an appeal in this case, either to all the judges on the 2nd Circuit or to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The case went to the Supreme Court in 2011, but the justices declined to hear it.

Bronx Household of Faith attorneys have argued that the organization is as beneficial to the community as other groups that utilize empty school buildings.

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“(The city) allows anything pertaining to the welfare of the community – that ranges from labor union meetings, to Alcoholics Anonymous groups, to filming episodes of ‘Law & Order’ – and one of the things prohibited is private worship services. When these school buildings stand empty on Sunday mornings, it benefits the community to open them up and allow religious groups to meet,” lawyers for the Bronx Household of Faith argue, according to the Gothamist.

That’s obvious, if for no other reason than the school district is making rent money when it otherwise wouldn’t

The New York Civil Liberties Union sides with the city, and actually argues that allowing religious groups to use a school violates the First Amendment because “children who are not part of the favored congregation feel diminished.”

“The Court of Appeals should be applauded for doing the right thing, and the Department of Education and the new administration should stand strong and prevent our public schools from being converted into churches,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a prepared statement.

She may have a point if the city only allowed one particular religious group to use public schools after hours, but there is no discrimination against one group or another. The schools are open to all, or at least they should be.

Fortunately, Mayor Bill de Blasio seems to understand that distinction, and is in support of allowing all types of groups to meet in public schools, including religious institutions.

“I stand by my belief that a faith organization playing by the same rules as any community nonprofit deserves access,” de Blasio said at a recent press conference, according to Gothamist.com.

“You know, you have to go through the same application process, wait their turn for space, pay the same rent. But I think they deserve access. They play a very, very important role in terms of providing social services and other important community services, and I think they deserve that right.”