In a victory for Satan and his acolytes, the American Civil Liberties Union announced on Thursday it has settled a federal lawsuit with the Saucon Valley School District permitting the creation of the “After School Satan Club” at the Hellertown, Pennsylvania, middle school. 

The agreement between the Satanic Temple, the ACLU, and the Pennsylvania school district allows the club free rein on the high school campus. The agreement also protects the club and its affiliates’ viewpoint and its exercise of “First Amendment rights” from retaliation by the school district, the ACLU stated in a press release. 

The district will also pay $200,000 in legal fees to the attorneys of the Satan worshippers, the release elaborated.

The Satanic Temple’s director of the “After School Satan Club,” June Everett, said, “We are pleased that this matter has been resolved and that the school district has agreed to stop all discrimination against us.” 

“It’s for them that we took on this legal fight in the first place,” Ms. Everett said, in reference to the children she claimed were “overjoyed” to be able to attend meetings. “We won’t hesitate to do so again if other school districts continue to enact discriminatory policies.”

The settlement is the outcome of a lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which alleges that the school district’s attempt to prevent the club from operating violated the First Amendment. The school, however, claimed that the club did not follow proper club approval procedures. 

In response to the ruling, the Saucon Valley School District maintained its stance that the club was in violation of school board policy regarding the use of district facilities when it applied in February for permission for the club to meet. 

According to local news coverage, the inception of the club at the Hellertown district came in the wake of a bible club that opened on campus that offended some residents of the Philadelphia suburb. 

“It usually comes after their kiddo has been sent a Good News Club flyer,” the Satanic Club director said. The Good News Club is an after-school bible education  program at Saucon Valley Middle School that is sponsored by a local evangelical church.

Prior to its temporary shutdown, the Satanic Club’s first meeting in May at the middle school drew dozens of protesters, Lehigh Valley News reported. Among the protesters were Christian religious leaders and a Catholic priest. The outlet reported that the protesters held signs and prayed the “Hail Mary” outside the school property.

Another religious leader in the community condemned the opening of the Satanic club. “Associating it with such a figure that we commonly equate with being evil. Not a good thing in my opinion,” the Reverend Lisa Borr of the New Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church said.