Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the trial court in favor of Sacramento City Unified School District in the longstanding litigation over the use of Waldorf methods in public schools. This case began in 1998 when a taxpayer group named PLANS (People for Legal Non Sectarian Schools) filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the use of Waldorf methods in public schools violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution because it is part of "anthroposophy" which PLANS claimed is a new age religion. The parties have battled this issue over the last 14 years with two bench trials and three trips to the Ninth Circuit.
In August 2010 there was a one day bench trial before United States District Court Judge Frank Damrell on the preliminary issue of whether anthroposophy is a religion for Establishment Clause purposes. At the close of PLANS case, the school district moved for judgment on partial findings based on PLANS' complete failure to meet its burden of proving anthroposophy was a religion. Judge Damrell entered judgment in favor of the school district and PLANS appealed to the Ninth Circuit. KMTG attorney Michelle Cannon argued the case on behalf of Sacramento City Unified School District before the Ninth Circuit on May 17, 2012.
KMTG is thrilled that this case is finally resolved after so many years and is equally thrilled that Sacramento City Unified School District may continue to operate its very successful Waldorf methods charter schools.
For more information, please see our Legal Alert.
Michelle Cannon
Christian Keiner
Chelsea Olson
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