Federal judge rules satanic group can meet on school premises

In the latest of several First Amendment cases addressed in 2023, a federal judge ruled that a Pennsylvania school district must allow an after-school satanic group to meet on school premises. The Saucon Valley School District had initially allowed the After School Satan Club to convene, but changed its decision after public outcry.

“When confronted with a challenge to free speech, the government’s first instinct must be to forward expression rather than quash it. Particularly when the content is controversial or inconvenient,” Judge John M. Gallagher wrote in his ruling filed Monday, May 1. “Nothing less is consistent with the expressed purpose of American government to secure the core, innate rights of its people.”

The national ACLU, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Dechert LLP filed the suit against the school district on behalf of The Satanic Temple in March of 2023. The ACLU tweeted about the ruling Monday, calling it “a victory for free speech and religious freedom.”

The ruling comes a few months after another satanic school group in Virginia was able to hold its first meeting. It also follows recent spats over the First Amendment at several universities across the country.