In the Interest of L.M. v. State

This cause is before us on appeal from an order adjudicating appellant delinquent. At issue is the validity of the requirement, as a condition of community control, that appellant “get with the pastor” of his mother’s church and enroll in any and all of the church’s youth programs.

Requiring a probationer or community eontrollee to submit to a course of religious instruction contravenes the First Amendment. Owens v. Kelley, 681 F.2d 1362, 1365 (11th Cir.1982). Although the record below does not indicate whether any or all of the youth programs have religious content, the order requires…