By Carol Heyen

CHINO– Two months after a federal judge ordered Chino Valley Unified School Board members to stop prayer and proselytizing at meetings, the same judge has ordered them to pay over $200,000 in legal fees to the group who sued them.

In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that local officials may open public meetings with prayers- even explicitly Christian ones- so long as the government agency does not discriminate against minority faiths when choosing who may offer a prayer and the prayer does not coerce participation from nonbelievers.

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation filed suit against the CVUSD, saying that they have taken this directive much farther than the Constitution allows.   The FFRF, in their November 2014 suit against the district, argued that Board Member James Na “often injects religion into his comments” at the ends of meetings and that [Board President Andrew] Cruz regularly closed meetings with a Bible reading, in addition to the prayers used to open meetings.”

On Feb. 18, U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal ordered the board to end its years-long tradition of “reciting prayers, Bible readings and proselytizing at board meetings,” saying that it “constitutes unconstitutional government endorsements of religion in violation of Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.”

Thursday, March 31, Bernal ordered Chino Valley Unified School Board members James Na, Sylvia Orozco, Andrew Cruz and Irene Hernandez-Blair to pay $202,971 in legal fees to the Freedom From Religion Foundation to cover the legal costs associated with the FFRC’s lawsuit against the board.

Chino Hills Mayor Art Bennett said, “[The ruling is] a chipping away at every right we have. The judge not only outlawed Scripture reading in the course of a meeting, he said the prayer at the start of the meeting is illegal. We’ve got to stand our ground and go forward. It’s a spiritual fight.”

The Board is planning an appeal.