(AgapePress) - Jury selection began today (March 7) in a federal trial in which a public university in Pennsylvania is being sued because school officials tried to have a Christian student involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.

Back in 1999 Temple University sponsored the controversial and blasphemous play Corpus Christi, in which Christ is portrayed as a homosexual. Michael Marcavage, then a Christian student at the Philadelphia school, complained to administrators. Temple officials eventually tried to have Marcavage committed to a mental institution because of his opposition to the play.

Steve Crampton

Steve Crampton, an attorney with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, says it is to Marcavage's credit that he relied on God throughout his clash with the university and became stronger as a result of the experience. "Of course," the lawyer notes, "that doesn't excuse the wrongdoing." He says the AFA Law Center is expecting and hoping the jury will recognize the 1999 incident for what it is.

The complaint filed on the former Temple student's behalf alleges that two university officials "unlawfully and intentionally assaulted and forcibly restrained" Marcavage on November 2, 1999, and then unlawfully ordered police to handcuff and transport him to the university hospital, where he was involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation.

Crampton believes the Pennsylvania school tried to muzzle Marcavage's religious viewpoint, ignoring his First Amendment rights in the process. "So we expect and hope that the jury will want to send a message to Temple and to its officials that interference with constitutional rights simply can't be tolerated," the pro-family attorney says.

The AFA Law Center spokesman feels the university must be held accountable for the actions it took against its student for simply speaking out against a school-sponsored theatrical production. The legal expert points out that, in some sense, Marcavage thought the incident marked something of a turning point.

"And obviously, we've seen the ratcheting up of hostility against Christians and Christianity," Crampton notes, "as most recently seen in the Philadelphia 11 matter, where [the Christian defendants were] charged with hate crimes simply for trying to share the gospel."

In fact, the AFA attorney adds, "It is a terrible, oppressive environment out there, and university campuses are among the worst places for Christians." He says the Law Center intends to seek damages for Marcavage's ordeal.

Marcavage, who now heads the Philadelphia-based Christian group Repent America, is pursuing civil damages against the Temple University defendants allegedly involved in depriving him of his constitutional rights. The trial is expected to last through this week.