The Equal Access Law:

The Equal Access Act was passed in the Senate with a vote of 88 to 11 andit passed in the House 337 to 77 and became law in August of 1984.

It was ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990 in the case of the "Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens," The school involved already had a chess, scuba-diving and a service club, but a group of Christians were not allowed to form an additional extracurricular group. Their club was to involve Bible study, prayer and fellowship. The Supreme Court issued a clear, 8 to 1 decision in favor of the Christian club.

Click here for the full Supreme Court Ruling.

• The Equal Access Act, as written, does not violate the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitutional.

• It only takes a single existing student-led group at a high school to define the campus to be a "limited open forum."

• The court interpreted the act's reference to "noncurriculum related student group" to mean any student group
"that does not directly relate to the body of courses offered by the school.

All student groups which qualify under the Act are to be treated equally by the school board. In the case of Westside, this included:
"official recognition, which allows clubs to be part of the student activities program and carries with it access to the school newspaper, bulletin boards, public address system, and annual Club Fair."

Based on the Mergen's ruling, President Clinton and the Department of Education issued guidelines on religious expression in public schools in 1995.