Judge OKs discount for church bulletin

Christian Century, Nov 17, 1999

A judge has ruled that a minor-league baseball team in Hagerstown, Maryland, may continue to offer discounts to fans who bring church bulletins to special promotion games, as long as it offers the same discount to those who don't. Administrative Law Judge Georgia Brady ruled October 12 that the Hagerstown Suns did not discriminate against self-described atheist Carl Silverman of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, because he was offered the same $2-per-ticket discount, even though he brought no bulletin to a game.

"I conclude that Maryland's public accommodation law, unlike that of many other jurisdictions, prohibits only the discriminatory application of a promotion," Brady said in her opinion. "In the absence of a discriminatory effect, the promotion is not per se illegal." The Maryland Commission on Human Rights, joined by the state American Civil Liberties Union chapter, brought suit against the Suns, a Class A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, after Silverman claimed he was denied the discount when he attended a game on Easter Sunday 1998 with his daughters.

A ticket seller for the Suns testified that Silverman was offered the discount. The seller, Rico Seville, said he produced an extra bulletin on which to record Silverman's discount, as he was required to do, but that Silverman declined the offer on philosophical grounds. Silverman denied that he had been offered a discount. The judge apparently found Seville's testimony more credible. Suns general manager David Blenckstone said the six-year-old bulletin discount would continue. Attorneys for Silverman said they would appeal.--RNS