Aclu Vs. Bradford County

Case 3:05-cv-00334-JMM-TMB

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STATES DISTRICT

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COURT

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Clark and Jane Moeller, et al.,

CIVIL ACTION No. 3:05-CV-334

Plaintiffs,

vs.

JudgeJamesM. Munley Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Blewitt

Bradford County, et al., Defendants.

CONSENT

ORDER

PlaintiffsClarkMoeller,JaneMoeller,JeffreyGonzalez,LauraBlain,and

KrisSchwenke ("Plaintiffs"), andDefendant Bradford County,havingagreedto resolve this dispute in the manner set forth below, tinisCourt orders that:

i. AllcontractsthatprovideforpaymentbyBradfordCountyof federal, state,or localfundsIcollectively, "PublicFunds")to anyotherentity ('%undedEntity") shall containthe followingrestrictions:

a. PublicFundsshallnot be usedto supportanyReligiousActivities

(theterm"Religious Activities" includes religious instruction, worship, rituals, proselytization,and indoctrination,and any other religious activity).

b. Public Funds shall not be used to purchasereligiousmaterialsor pay for the supervisory, administrative, labor, or other costs of

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maintenance,or repair of buildingsthat are used primarily as houses of worshipor primarilyfor Religious Activities.

c. The Funded Entity's officers,employees,and volunteers shall not pressure or coerce any beneficiaryof or participantin the program

that is fUndedwiththe PublicFunds("FundedProgram")to attend or participate in any Religious Activities.

d. if the FundedEntityoffersor engagesin ReligiousActivities,the

ReligiousActivities mustoccurseparately in timeandspacefrom the FundedProgram,mustbe whollyvoluntary,and mustoccurin a mannerthatprotectsprogrambeneficiariesand participantsfrom any pressure or coercionto take part in the ReligiousActivities. e. The Funded Entity shall keep Public Funds in an accountthat is separate from any accountit uses to supportReligiousActivities, and shall maintain separate financial records for the account that contains

Public

Funds.

f. In admittingbeneficiariesor participantsintothe FundedProgram, and in renderingassistanceto beneficiariesof andparticipantsin the Funded Program,the FundedEntity must not discriminate against or amongbeneficiariesor participantsbased on religion, a

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belief,a refusalto expressor to hold a religiousbelief or a refusal to attend or participatein a ReligiousActivity.

2. Tfa statuteor regulationapplicableto particularPublicFundsprohibits the recipientof the PublicFundsfromdiscriminating in hiringor employment based on religion, then the contract between Bradford

County and the FundedEntity must incorporatethat prohibition.

3. BradfordCountyoff~cialsor employeesshallmonitorthe complianceof eachreligious,religiously-affiliated, andfaith-basedFundedEntitywith paragraphs 1 and(where applicable)2. Such monitoringshall include at least the following measures:

a. IJnannouncedvisits, occurringat least four times each year, to the site ofthe Funded Program.

b. Conf~dential interviews,at leastfourtimesper year,of beneficiariesof and participantsin the FundedProgram. c. Annual reviewsof those financialand accountingrecords maintainedby the FundedEntitythat relate to the Public E;unds. d. Where paragraph2 is applicable,annualreviewsof any employment-related policies and any advertisements and notices of

employmentopeningsmaintainedor issued by the Funded Entity.

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Preparationof writtenreports documentingeach visit, set of interviews, and annual review required above.

4. Bradford County shall providenotice and explanationof the requirements of this Consent Order ("Order") to all its officers and employees who are involved with the dissemination of Public Funds and to all personnel of Funded Entities who are involved with Funded

Programs. BradfordCounty shall require each person who must receive such notice and explanationto sign a statementthat they have received

the noticeand explanationandthattheyunderstandthe requirementsof this Order.

5. Bradford County shall requireeach entity thenceforth,"Zntermediary") that receives Public Funds fiom it and then provides the Public Funds to other entities to complywith the requirementsof paragraphs 1 and 2. BradfordCounty shall itself performthe duties requiredunder paragraphs 3 and 4 with respect to the programs that receive Public Funds from such

intermediaries,unless the Intermediaryis a governmentalbody that agrees to and does perform those duties.

B. if any BradfordCountytaxpayer,or any other person who has recognized legal,standing, notifies Bradford County in writing that he or she believes that a Funded Entity is engaging in conduct that is prohibited by

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1 or(whereapplicable)2, or thatBradfordCountyor an Intermediaryis not complyingwithanyof its dutiesunderthis Order, then BradfordCountyshallconductan investigationof the complaintand shallmakethe resultsof its investigation availableto the complaining party within 60 days of receivingthe complaint.

7. At therequestof anyof thePlaintiffs, BradfordCountywillprovideto the requesting Plaintiff(s) a copyof eachreportthatit or an Intermediary prepares pursuant to paragraphs 3(e) and 6. Any such reports required

undertheseparagraphsmaybe redactedto protectfromdisclosure informationthat is requiredto be keptconfidentialby law. 8. BYenteringintothis Order,BradfordCounty,its officials,and its employees do not admitthat they have committedany violation of the law or other wrongdoing.

9. In the eventthatBradfordCountyis foundby a courtof competent jurisdictionto haveviolatedany`termof this Order,Plaintiffsmay request attorney's fees, costs, and expenses for enforcement of the Order

and for the workundertakenin connectionwithPlaintiffs'claimsagainst BradfordCountyin this actionpriorto entryof this Order. Forpu~rposes ofadjudicatingsucha requestfor fees,costs,andexpenses,Plaintiffswill be deemed prevailingparties under 42 U.S.C. ~ 1988with respect to both

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enforcement work and said prior work; the Court will determine the amount of the fees, costs, and expenses for both the enforcement work

and the prior work in accordancewith the case law under 42 U.S.C. ~ 1988 for awarding fees to prevailing parties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no violation of this Order that occurs more than two years after the entry of this Order may serve as a basis for a request by Plaintiffs for any fees, costs, or expenses for the work undertaken in connection with Plaintiffs' claims against Bradford County in this action prior to entry of this Order. Furthermore, if Bradford County complies with this Order, Bradford County shall not be required to pay any of the fees, costs, and expenses of Plaintiffs' attorneys in this case. 10.This Court reserves jurisdiction to enforce this Order. In the event that Bradford County fails to comply with this Order, Plaintiffs may file a motion with this Court seeking enforcement of the Order. 13..This Order is intended to resolve all claims made in this action against

defendant Bradford County by Plaintiffs Clark Moeller, Jane Moeller, Jeff Gonzalez, Laura Blain, and Kris Schwenke. Except as provided

herein, the parties d~ not waive their rights or obligationswith regard to future

claims.

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fulland finalOrderhavingbeenenteredwithrespectto the claimsof Plaintiffs Clark Moeller,Jane MoeUer,Jeffrey Gonzalez,Laura Blain, and Kris SchwenkeagainstdefendantBradfordCounty,those claims are

dismissedwithprejudiceandwithoutcostsor attorneys'feeslexceptas may be requiredunder paragraph9) to any party.

SO OIU)EREDthis

dayof

,2007.

James M. Munley tJnited States District Judge THE PARTIES HEREBY CONSENT TO THE FORM AND ENTRY OF THIS

ORDER:

Date:~5114rth 2~ ~07

for Plaintiffs Clark

Date:~j~on~~ ~7t,

I

Moel]er,Jane Moeller,Jeffrey

VCo~

for Defendant Bradford

County

Gonzalez, Laura Blain, and Kris Schwenke

Michael J. Donohue, Esq. Kreder, Brooks & Hailstone

Bruce R I(elly (BK 2962) Daniel M. Kuhn (DK 4725) Yue-I-ian Chow (YC 4·393) Amold & Porter LLP 399 Park Avenue New York, NY 10022

Tel: (212) 715-1000 Fax: (212)71. 5-1399

1 i j

i

220 Park Avenue Suite 220 P.O. Box 596 Scranton, PA 18501 Tel: (570) 346-7922 Fax: (570) 346-3715

Email:[email protected]

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Bvuce.Kelly@aporteu. com / Daniel.Kuhn@aportev. c~m / Yt~eHan Chow@aport~r.com Mun~ay R. Gamick (DC 399260) Alexander E. Bennett (DC 000737)

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Larry L. Crain Senior Counsel, American Center for Law and Justice Brentwood Law Offices 5214 Maryland Way - Suite 402

Arnold & Porter LLP

Brentwood,

555 12thSt., N.W.

Tel: f615) 376-2~00

Washington, D.C. 20004

Fax: (615) 345-6009

Tel: (202) 942-5000

Email: Icvcrl'[email protected]

Fax: (202) 942-5999 Email:

Murray_GQmick@clporter. com / A lexandev_B~nnet~@ap~rteP: com Ayesha Khan (DC 426836) Richard Katskee (DC 474250) Alex J. Luchenitser (DC 473393) Americans United for Separation of Church

518C

and

State

St., NE

Washington, D,C. 20002 Tel: (202) 466-3234 Fax: (202) 466-2587 Email: [email protected] / kntskee@au. org /

luc~enitser~au.org Witold J. Walczak (PA 62976) ACLU ofPennsylvania 313

Atwood

Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Tel: (412) 681-7864 Fax: ~412) 681-8707 Email: vM·[email protected]

Mary Catherine Roper (PA 71107) ACLU ofPennsylvania P.O. Box 40008

Philadelphia, PA 19106 Tel: (215) 592-1513

TN 37027

Case 3:05-cv-00334-JMM-TMB

(215) 592-1343 Email: [email protected]

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