Wyatt Bury, LLC v. City of Kansas City

A Nationwide Crisis

Between 2017 and 2021, the number of American young people diagnosed with gender dysphoria—an experience of severe distress over their biological sex—increased 300%. Research shows that the vast majority of these children will grow out of their distress naturally if allowed to go through puberty unhindered. Nevertheless, thousands of these children have instead been put through a “gender transition,” including a regime of puberty blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, to make their bodies resemble the opposite sex. There is no reliable evidence that these procedures offer any long-term benefits, and abundant evidence that they cause lasting harms—including increased risk of cancer, loss of bone density, sexual dysfunction, and permanent sterilization.

Because of these harms, 26 states and several European countries have banned or severely restricted gender transitions for children. And victims of this treatment are increasingly coming forward, asking why they were offered medical treatment to change their bodies, instead of compassionate care to help them navigate natural puberty and careful counseling to help them heal from the underlying causes of their discomfort. (See their stories.)

Counselors Can Help

Faith-based counselors nationwide help youth who struggle to accept their biological sex by taking a more cautious approach. They talk with children to address the underlying causes of their discomfort, alleviate their distress, and, if possible, help them to accept their bodies without resorting to irreversible life-altering medical intervention. This approach is supported by the best available scientific evidence and supported by recently enacted laws in dozens of states and several European countries.

Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, however, ban counselors from using a cautious approach. Rather than allowing children to work through the root causes of their discomfort, local ordinances require counselors to affirm children in their belief that they were born in the wrong body—and only allow counseling that assists a child in undergoing a gender transition. As a result, therapists who offer compassionate talk therapy to children who want that help, like Wyatt Bury and Pamela Eisenreich, face the loss of their business license, fines of up to $1,000, and even jail time. 

A defense of compassionate counseling

On October 24, 2025, Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the Eighth Circuit in support of Bury and Eisenreich. The brief argues that the bans on talk therapy disproportionately harm religious children and silence one side of an important medical debate—punishing counselors who want to help children work through the underlying causes of their distress without rushing into irreversible medical procedures. The brief urges the court to protect the ability of therapists to offer compassionate care that reflects both sound science and their deeply held beliefs.

Kansas City and Jackson County aren’t the only jurisdictions targeting compassionate counseling for children struggling with their biological sex. In Michigan, Becket represents Catholic therapist Emily McJones and a local Catholic Charities counseling ministry in a case challenging a similar state law. Becket is also supporting a faith-based counselor in Chiles v. Salazar, a case that was recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Like Bury and Eisenreich, these counselors are asking the courts to protect their ability to help children in distress without being forced to steer them toward life-altering medical interventions.  

Importance to religious liberty:

  • Free speech: Free speech includes the right to a free and peaceful exchange of ideas with others—including religious ideas. Freedom of speech and religious liberty go hand-in-hand; protecting one protects the other.
  • Individual freedom: Religious freedom protects the rights of individuals to observe their faith at all times, including in the workplace. 
  • Parental Rights: Parents have the right to direct the religious upbringing of their children. Teachings around family life and human sexuality lie at the heart of most religions, and Becket defends the right of parents to guide their own children on such matters.

Fitzmaurice v. City of Quincy

Symbols of sacrifice 

Across the country, police and fire departments have long used the figures of Michael the Archangel and Florian, an early Roman firefighter, to symbolize the ideals of their professions. Fire departments use the Florian cross as their emblem, and police officers often identify with Michael as they pursue their goal of protecting communities against wrongdoers. 

When the City of Quincy planned its new public safety headquarters, it decided to erect statues of Michael and Florian to reflect this tradition. The sculptures were commissioned from the same artist who created the city’s statues of John Adams and John Hancock. The goal was to honor public servants using symbols already meaningful to the departments they serve. 

The ACLU tries to stop Quincy from honoring its first responders 

Before the statues could be installed, the ACLU sued on behalf of a group of residents, arguing that Quincy could not honor its first responders in this way because Michael and Florian have religious meaning in some faith traditions. According to the ACLU, Quincy must strip its historic symbols from civic life whenever they carry any religious associations. But the Supreme Court has upheld the use of symbols with religious roots in public life, including a World War I memorial featuring a cross, when they carry historical, cultural, or commemorative significance. 

Becket defends Quincy in battle 

If the ACLU’s theory were adopted, it would give courts and officials across Massachusetts sweeping license to strip away treasured symbols of history and culture simply because they may have religious as well as secular significance. That would not protect diversity—it would erase it. Courts have long drawn a clear line: the government cannot act out of hostility toward religion. That principle includes protecting civic art from being censored simply because some symbols trace back to religious traditions. 

For centuries, communities have drawn from a wide range of historic and cultural figures to honor public service. Michael and Florian have become part of that fabric, recognized within the police and fire communities as emblems of protection, bravery, and sacrifice. Becket is ensuring that Quincy can continue this tradition without being forced to treat religion as something unwelcome in public life.

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Public square: Religion is a natural part of human culture and should not be scrubbed from the public square. 

Weiss v. The Permanente Medical Group

A loyal employee rediscovers her faith 

For over twenty years, Mimi Weiss devoted her career to serving others as a Senior Consultant and Department Manager at Kaiser Permanente, helping people lead healthier lives and earning a reputation as a dedicated and dependable employee. Amid the isolation of the pandemic, Weiss struggled with loneliness and depression but found solace in her Christian faith. In early 2021, she recommitted herself to her Jewish roots and embraced Jesus as her Messiah.

Fired for following her religious beliefs 

In 2021, Kaiser began requiring all employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Weiss, who worked entirely remotely, promptly requested a religious exemption through the web portal that Kaiser Permanente created for vaccine-exemption requests. She told Kaiser that her “religious beliefs as a Christian Jew do not allow me to receive a Covid-19 vaccine,” and explained her beliefs using Bible passages like Deuteronomy 14:1 and I Corinthians 6:19, which she believes prevent her from receiving needle wounds except for “direct curative benefit” and from altering her God-given immune system.

Based on her answers, Kaiser granted Weiss a religious exemption. But within weeks, Kaiser sent her a new set of questions—mostly repetitive—asking her if she had “ever taken medications of any kind,” when she last took such medicine, and why her religious beliefs prevented her from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine but not from taking other medications.   

Weiss briefly restated her religious beliefs, but when it came to the questions about her medical history, she objected, pointing out that these broad questions about all medicines were not “applicable” or “relevant” to her specific religious objection to altering her God-given immune system. Shortly after, Kaiser revoked her exemption and placed her on administrative leave without pay.

Despite Weiss’s multiple efforts to contact Kaiser officials and explain her religious beliefs, the healthcare giant refused to engage in any in-person, telephone, or videoconference discussion about her request or allow her to appeal the decision. In January 2022, Kaiser fired Weiss.  

Taking on the healthcare giant in court

In July 2023, Weiss filed a lawsuit to hold Kaiser accountable for violating her rights. The district court ruled against her, saying that her detailed answers to two sets of questions from Kaiser were not sufficient to notify Kaiser of her religious conflict. But under the law, religious employees don’t need to satisfy an intrusive corporate checklist to live out their faith, and certainly should have the ability to appeal when their religious beliefs are ignored. In its recent decision in Groff v. DeJoy, the Supreme Court made clear that employers must respect and accommodate sincere religious believers. With Becket’s help, Weiss is now asking the Ninth Circuit to affirm that every person has the right to live out his or her faith in the workplace. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Individual Freedom: Religious exercise encompasses more than just thought or worship—it involves visibly practicing faith, at home and at work. All Americans must be free to live according to their consciences without fear of losing their jobs.

McCutchan v. Nicholson

Texas’s marriage law

Texas law has long specified who may officiate marriages. Christian ministers and priests, rabbis, and as well as federal and state judges in Texas are authorized to perform wedding ceremonies and sign marriage licenses. Texas law also, more broadly, permits an officer of any “religious organization” to officiate weddings. Anyone else who conducts a ceremony without that authority commits a criminal offense and risks fines. 

The Center for Inquiry (CFI), a secular humanist group, sought to change that. CFI offers secular marriage ceremonies and runs a “secular celebrant” program to certify members who wish to officiate weddings. One member, Eric McCutchan, wanted to officiate marriages for couples in Texas. But because he could not officiate weddings under current law, he and CFI filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have their secular celebrants authorized to officiate marriages. 

What is religion? 

This case raises a crucial question: what counts as “religion” under the law? CFI acknowledged that it is not a religion nor a religious organization, and does not wish to be treated as such. Yet it is asking that its celebrants be recognized in the same way as clergy and other religious leaders are under the law. To this end, CFI has asserted that its rights were being violated by Texas law. In response, Texas argued that CFI was, in fact, a religious organization and therefore was already authorized by Texas law to officiate marriages. The district court disagreed. Although it dismissed the lawsuit on procedural grounds, it still rejected Texas’s argument that CFI was “religious” in nature. The court found that interpreting “religion” and “religious” to include CFI ignores our nation’s historical and legal understanding of what religion is. The court expressed concern that to find otherwise would set a dangerous precedent that would negatively affect genuine religious groups. McCutchan and CFI then appealed the ruling to Fifth Circuit.  

“Religion” should be understood according to history and tradition 

Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the Fifth Circuit in support of neither party, arguing that the court should define religion consistent with the term’s meaning at the nation’s Founding. In his Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, James Madison described religion as “the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it.” The Supreme Court has consistently applied that understanding. This inclusive view covers diverse faith traditions—including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism—that affirm a transcendent authority or truth. But it does not extend to organizations like CFI that explicitly deny the transcendent altogether. Preserving that line ensures that protections for religious liberty remain strong and coherent in a diverse society. 

The case is not about whether couples in Texas may choose a non-religious wedding ceremony; they already can, by having a judge officiate. It is about ensuring that the word “religion” keeps its historic, traditional, and constitutional meaning. If “religious organizations” can include such groups as the Boy Scouts, Sierra Club, Rotary International, Lions Club, or even the Dallas Cowboys, the term would lose all meaning. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Public square:  Religious organizations are crucial to maintaining a free society. Expanding the definition of religion to include avowedly non-religious organizations would put authentically and sincerely faithful communities at risk of losing the protections they need to freely carry out their religious work and missions. Further, this ensures that religion does not become a proxy for personal or political ideology. 

Weems v. Association of Related Churches

A dispute between a pastor and his former church

Charles Stovall Weems founded Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, where he served as senior pastor for over two decades. Around 2018, after Weems said he saw a vision of Jesus Christ during a church service, he developed a new “Missions Plan” for the church. This involved creating several affiliated for-profit and nonprofit entities, which he controlled and which received funding from the church. 

Over time, Celebration Church began to raise concerns about Weems’ spiritual leadership and the relationship between his new entities and the church— including questions about the alleged use of COVID relief funds, cryptocurrency transactions, and the purchase of a million-dollar home designated as a parsonage. The church initiated an investigation into those concerns and issued a report describing them in detail. But before the church could remove Weems, he resigned in 2022. 

Judges and juries asked to referee a religious disagreement 

Weems first sued Celebration Church directly in state court, claiming it forced him out and interfered with his business ventures, but that case was dismissed. Weems then filed a lawsuit against the Association of Related Churches (ARC), a national non-denominational church association that helps start churches. ARC had no governing authority over Celebration Church and no role in its internal corporate structure. But Weems claimed that ARC and its leadership had negatively influenced his continued leadership of Celebration Church’s and damaged his relationships with donors, partners, and the entities that Weems had created.

Weems claimed that ARC conspired to produce the report that raised concerns about Weems’s conduct, including allegations of spiritual abuse, unbiblical leadership, and financial misconduct, and to use it to force him out of leadership. The district court dismissed the case in December 2024, ruling that his claims could not proceed because they were fundamentally tied to church leadership decisions—issues that civil courts cannot referee. 

Becket asks Court to protect churches’ freedom to select their leaders 

Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the Eleventh Circuit supporting ARC. The brief defends the right of churches and religious organizations to make decisions about leadership and internal discipline free from court interference. It explains that the law protects not just hierarchical churches, but also networks, associations, and ministries that support and advise them. Allowing lawsuits like this to proceed would entangle courts in spiritual disputes, which the law squarely forbids. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the relationship between church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association. 

 

McRaney v. The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention

A fellowship of churches rooted in faith for 180 years 

Founded in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. It includes nearly 47,000 independent churches, with nearly 13 million members, who voluntarily cooperate to share the Christian faith, provide advanced Christian training at Baptist seminaries, and demonstrate the love of Christ through ministries to the most vulnerable. One of its key ministries is the North American Mission Board, which helps churches plant new congregations, supports evangelism, provides chaplaincy ministry, and serves communities by caring for refugees, providing disaster relief, and fighting human trafficking.  

The Mission Board pursues these ministry priorities through partnerships with 42 different state or regional conventions of Baptist churches. One of these is the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (“Baptist Convention”), an organization of more than 500 Baptist churches in Maryland and Delaware. In 2012, the Mission Board and the Baptist Convention entered into a strategic partnership to coordinate ministry efforts. That same year, the Baptist Convention hired Will McRaney as its executive director to lead its role in the partnership. 

Private disagreements and a public lawsuit 

As the partnership progressed, the Mission Board and McRaney developed serious disagreements about how to carry out the ministry work—including missionary selection and funding, charitable giving, and requirements for how missionaries carried out their religious work. The Mission Board concluded that McRaney had shown “serious and persistent disregard” for the religious principles of the partnership and the Baptist Convention’s board ultimately voted unanimously to remove McRaney from his leadership role. 

In 2017, McRaney filed a lawsuit claiming that the Mission Board had defamed him and interfered with his employment. His allegations, however, were rooted in the same internal religious disagreements that had led to the end of the partnership. Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the Mission Board, explaining that forcing courts to referee such disputes would entangle judges in questions of religious leadership and mission—something the First Amendment squarely forbids. 

The court steps in to protect the freedom of the faithful 

After eight years in court, the Fifth Circuit ruled in September 2025 that civil courts may not meddle in disputes over internal religious leadership and ministry decisions. Judge Andrew Oldham, writing for the majority, made clear that the law shields churches and ministries from being pulled into court over spiritual disagreements: “the church autonomy doctrine prohibits any court from adjudicating McRaney’s claims.” 

The court emphasized that claims like defamation can’t be used to force religious groups to defend their internal decision-making in court. In making that point, the court cited Becket’s brief twice, noting that these protections apply broadly across different faith traditions and governance structures, including the non-hierarchal fellowships and associations like Baptists. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the relationship between church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association. 

 

 

United Faculty of Saint Leo v. NLRB and Saint Leo University

A university grounded in faith

Saint Leo University is the oldest Catholic university in Florida. For over a century, it has provided students with a high-quality education rooted in the 1,500-year-old Benedictine tradition. Its religious identity is evident in all aspects of campus life: students take required religion courses, attend Mass, and participate in ministry programs and service projects. Crucifixes hang in each classroom, and a Benedictine monastery stands at the heart of campus. Faculty are expected to support the university’s religious mission, even if they are not Catholic themselves. 

Saint Leo forced into court 

For decades, Saint Leo worked with a faculty union to negotiate over pay, benefits, and workplace policies. But in 2020, the university ended its formal relationship with the union to work directly with its faculty members. Saint Leo’s leadership believed this shift would foster greater unity, strengthen its campus culture, and better reflect its Catholic identity. The new governance model gave the faculty more say in how the school runs; they helped revise the handbook, and the new faculty senate took part in decisions on academic standards, working conditions, compensation, and strategic planning. 

In response, the old faculty union filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the university had broken federal labor rules. Saint Leo responded by explaining that the Board had no authority to intervene in the relationship between a religious school and its faculty. That principle was first set out by the Supreme Court in NLRB v. Catholic Bishop, then fleshed out by other federal courts, and finally adopted by the Board, which said that schools like Saint Leo—religiously affiliated, nonprofit, and publicly committed to their faith—are beyond the Board’s control.

Saint Leo has the right to shepherd its own campus 

In 2023, the Board ruled in Saint Leo’s favor, confirming that the Board has no authority over the school. But the union appealed, asking a federal court to undo that decision and give the Board control over how Saint Leo operates. 

On May 13, 2025, Becket filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on behalf of Saint Leo, explaining that forcing Saint Leo to negotiate through a union would interfere with how the university makes decisions rooted in its Catholic mission—like how it teaches, hires, and runs campus life. Allowing a government agency this kind of power over a religious school would set a dangerous precedent, inviting more government control over faith-based education nationwide. One month after Becket filed its brief defending Saint Leo, the union, apparently fearing a loss in the Eleventh Circuit, abandoned its appeal, ending the case in Saint Leo’s favor. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association. 

 

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod v. Concordia University Texas

A kingdom “not of this world” 

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod believes that its Church is fundamentally “not of this world,” and must be protected from control by the State. These beliefs, shaped by the tradition’s historical suffering of persecution and state co-option, have caused the Church 130 years ago to create a civil corporation—the LCMS—to represent the Church before civil courts and to manage the Church’s property, contracts, and legal affairs. But the Church’s ecclesiastical body—known as the Synod—exercises the Church’s spiritual authority and governs the Church’s religious beliefs. This distinction between spiritual and secular authorities is a key religious belief underpinning the Church’s organization and governance. This structure allows the Church to stay focused on its religious mission while LCMS supports that mission, among other places, in court. 

A university for the faithful  

In 1926, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod established Concordia University Texas to help train pastors, teachers, and other church workers to serve in Lutheran congregations. LCMS paid for the land, buildings, furniture, and the books in the library. From the start, Concordia was not just another college; it was an extension of the Church’s religious mission. 

Concordia’s attempt to separate from the Church 

Yet almost a century after it was founded by the Church, Concordia’s Board of Regents voted in November 2022—without Church approval—to cut LCMS out of the picture. It rewrote the school’s charter and bylaws to eliminate LCMS’s oversight and claimed the school was no longer bound by Church authority. The board asserted exclusive control over who sits on the board, what theology is taught, and how Concordia defines its relationship to the Church. 

When the Church learned of these events, it immediately requested that Concordia return to the Church’s fold, but Concordia refused. The Church’s highest authority reviewed Concordia’s actions and ruled them invalid as a matter of Church law. But again, Concordia refused to comply. Left with no other recourse, LCMS filed a lawsuit in federal court to preserve the Church’s role and protect the school’s mission. 

The law protects the Church’s right to organize itself 

Even though LCMS has always handled the Church’s legal affairs—including its relationship with Concordia—a federal court said it couldn’t bring the case in court. The court claimed that only the Church’s spiritual body, the Synod, had the right to sue. But the Synod is a purely spiritual body. It doesn’t own property, have bank accounts, sign contracts, or go to court. That’s LCMS’s role—and it has been for 130 years.  

This arrangement isn’t just practical—it reflects the Church’s belief in a clear distinction between spiritual leadership and civil authority. LCMS handles legal affairs; the Synod leads on doctrine and spiritual matters. To force the Synod to serve LCMS’s role would violate the Church’s beliefs that God’s kingdom isn’t subject to state control and create chaotic uncertainty about the ability of churches in general to select a form of association before the state to order their civil affairs in support of a spiritual mission and fellowship. On April 28, 2025, Becket appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to ensure that churches—not courts—get the final say in how they’re organized. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association. 

 

Photo: David Prasad, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Rolovich v. Washington State University

A Man of Faith and Football 

Football has been a part of Nick Rolovich’s life for decades. In college, he played quarterback at the University of Hawaii, where he commanded a high-powered offense and led his team to a winning record during the 2001 season. After graduation, Rolovich began coaching and quickly built a reputation for his unique “run and shoot” offensive system. In 2020, he was named head coach of the Washington State Cougars, stepping into the role just before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted college athletics.  

In August of 2021, Washington Governor Jay Inslee issued a vaccine mandate for all state employees, including WSU staff. That summer, Coach Rolovich discerned that taking the vaccine would violate his conscience as guided by his Catholic faith. Citing prayer, personal study, advice from a priest, and Catholic teachings on therapeutic proportionality and complicity with abortion, Rolovich concluded he could not in good conscience receive the vaccine.

Coach Rolovich sidelined for religious beliefs 

Coach Rolovich soon informed WSU’s athletic director, Patrick Chun, that he planned to request a religious exemption from the mandate, which was permitted by the state’s rules. In response, Chun, who had previously compared Rolovich’s vaccine beliefs to those of a “cult,” warned the coach that the exemption would be hard to get and he would “forever question” his character if he submitted his religious request. Despite Chun’s hostility, Coach Rolovich pressed forward and submitted his request for a religious exemption.  

Meanwhile, Chun—together with the Board of Regents and WSU’s President—had developed what they privately called the “Rolo strategy” to ensure that Coach Rolovich’s requested religious exemption would be denied. After WSU’s standard blind-review panel had determined that his beliefs were religious, sincerely held, and approved an exemption, Chun and the athletics department challenged the decision. They pressured WSU’s Human Resources department to reverse its approval by questioning the sincerity and religious nature of Rolovich’s beliefs. Similarly, although WSU’s Environmental Health & Safety department had proposed accommodations, Chun rejected them, citing opposition from donors and supposed harms to WSU’s “brand.” On October 18, 2021, WSU fired Rolovich with cause. 

Personal foul, targeting, Washington State   

On November 14, 2022, Coach Rolovich filed a lawsuit against WSU to hold the school accountable for firing him over his religious beliefs. He argues that WSU officials targeted him from the start, ignoring their own policies and bowing to pressure from donors and the media even though accommodation is legally required. In January 2025, the Eastern District Court for the District of Washington ruled in favor of WSU. Becket has stepped in to help Coach Rolovich appeal his case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Individual Freedom: Religious exercise encompasses more than just thought or worship—it involves visibly practicing faith, at home and at work. All Americans must be free to live according to their consciences without fear of losing their jobs.   

 

Photo Credit: Darryl Oumi via Getty Images

Southern Methodist University v. South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church

A university founded on faith 

The United Methodist Church has a long history of establishing and overseeing institutions of higher education. In 1911, the Church founded SMU to advance this educational mission. From the start, the Church played a hands-on role in overseeing SMU, guiding the University’s leadership and operations consistent with its faith. For over a century, SMU’s governing documents consistently affirmed that SMU would be “forever owned, maintained, and controlled” by the Church. This gave the Church authority over key matters such as trustee appointments and the University’s strategic direction. 

SMU seeks to sever its ties from the Church  

In 2019, SMU attempted to break its longstanding connection with the Church by making changes to its governing documents. The University’s Board of Trustees voted to claim ultimate authority over the University, sidelining the Church’s role as the guiding force behind SMU’s educational mission. These changes were made without the Church’s approval, violating the rights guaranteed in the University’s founding documents. On December 4, 2019, the Church filed a lawsuit to protect its right to continue overseeing SMU and ensure its mission remained aligned with the Church. 

The law protects the Church’s educational mission 

On January 2, 2025, Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the Texas Supreme Court in support of the Church. The brief argues that the Church has the right to govern SMU, as it has for over a century, without interference from the state. It also emphasizes that the law does not allow civil governments to meddle in religious organizations’ decisions about their internal affairs. When the Church founded SMU, it ensured the University would remain under its control, including the right to approve any changes to SMU’s governing documents. Religious institutions have the freedom to decide matters of governance, faith, and doctrine without civil government interference. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association. 

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists v. Horton

A global community of faith and service  

The Seventh-day Adventist Church traces its origins to a religious revival movement that started in the 1840s. Today, the Church is made up of over 22 million members and is one of the world’s most racially and ethnically diverse Chrisitan denominations. The Church operates ministries in over 120 countries, offering education and humanitarian relief to those in need.  

The Church’s faith is evident in all that it does, including in its workplace culture and environment. For example, many Church-run institutions begin each day with worship services, which include devotional speakers, prayer, musical worship, and Bible study. The Church also expects its employees to uphold and model the faith in every aspect of their lives. This includes following Seventh-day Adventist teachings on modest dress, marriage and sexuality, healthful living, and observance of the Saturday Sabbath. 

The Church’s religious hiring practices are threatened  

The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, headquartered in Maryland, serves as the central governing body of the global Church, overseeing its ministries throughout the world. Adventist Risk Management (ARM), also based in Maryland, is the insurance and risk management provider for the Church and has been serving Adventist ministries since 1935. 

A recent change in Maryland law, however, threatens these ministries. In 2023, the Maryland Supreme Court reinterpreted the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act, significantly limiting the law’s religious exemption that had previously allowed Seventh-day Adventist organizations to hire only those who share their faith. Now, only employees who directly advance the Church’s core mission can be hired based on shared beliefs. And courts get to decide what are the Church’s core missions. As a result, the Church’s long-standing hiring practices conflict with Maryland law, jeopardizing the Church’s ability to fulfill its religious mission. 

The law protects the Church’s freedom to live its faith      

On October 2, 2024, Becket filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of the General Conference and ARM. The complaint argues that as religious ministries, the General Conference and ARM must have the freedom to ensure all their employees share and uphold the Church’s beliefs. It also argues that this new interpretation of Maryland law requires courts to delve into complex questions about what the Church’s core mission is and which employees are essential to advancing that mission—matters that are deeply tied to the Church’s beliefs. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that courts have no business meddling in such matters of a Church’s governance, faith, and doctrine.   

In June 2025, the district court ruled against the Church. The General Conference appealed the decision on September 8, 2025, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to protect the Church’s ability to operate according to its religious beliefs, without government interference. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association. 

Photo Credit: Seventh-day Adventist Church

 

Kuilema v. Calvin University

A university founded on a religious mission 

Founded in 1876 by the Christian Reformed Church, Calvin University exists to prepare students for lifelong learning, scholarship, worship, and service. Calvin faculty are expected to subscribe to the confessional standards of the Christian Reformed Church and to integrate faith and learning in their teaching and scholarship. A focal point of university life is its chapel, which holds daily services to provide students and staff a break from work and time to seek God together. Beyond campus, Calvin extends its degree program offerings into Handlon Correctional Facility through the Calvin Prison Initiative and provides students with opportunities to serve in the local Grand Rapids community. For example, Calvin students help tutor refugee children at the Refugee Education Center, offer companionship to patients at Gentiva Hospice, and provide homebound seniors with meals through Meals on Wheels Western Michigan. 

Faithful university in court for its beliefs 

To ensure its religious mission remains strong, Calvin asks its employees to agree to uphold its Christian beliefs in word and deed. While the university allows for some personal disagreements with church teaching, it has clear guidelines for teaching, scholarship, and personal conduct that all employees must follow, including expectations about how to handle disagreement. In 2021, a professor broke these guidelines when he officiated a same-sex marriage in violation of Calvin’s religious beliefs. After multiple attempts to resolve disagreements with the professor, Calvin decided not to renew his contract. The professor then sued Calvin under Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, claiming that the university had discriminated against him for his participation in the same-sex wedding ceremony and should be held liable for adhering to its religious beliefs.   

The law protects Calvin’s freedom to live its faith      

On June 13, 2024, Becket filed an opening brief at the Michigan Court of Appeals to protect Calvin’s ability to operate consistent with its faith. The brief argues that as a religious university, Calvin has the freedom to ensure that those who teach the faith to students uphold and model its beliefs. Additionally, allowing courts to meddle in disputes over Calvin’s religious beliefs about marriage violates the law. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled—and recently in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru—that religious institutions have the freedom to decide matters of governance, faith, and doctrine without courts getting involved. 

In addition to Becket, Calvin is also represented by attorneys Stephen J. van Stempvoort and Jacob L. Carlton of Miller Johnson PLC. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association. 

O’Connell v. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Supporting the Church’s charitable outreach around the world 

USCCB is an organization of senior religious leaders of the Catholic Church serving in the United States and U.S. Virgin Islands. For over 100 years, USCCB and its predecessor organizations have helped unify, promote, and carry out Catholic ministries in the United States and abroad, including to the elderly, poor, and marginalized communities. 

USCCB helps parishes communicate to their parishioners about a millennium-old annual Vatican collection called Peter’s Pence, which supports the Holy See’s needs and helps the Pope provide relief to marginalized people and Catholic communities. This annual offering is named after the original Pope, Saint Peter. Peter’s Pence, though, is directly run by the Vatican and local diocese participate as a matter of Catholic church law (known as “canon law”). USCCB does not collect the Peter’s Pence offering or control how the Vatican uses this offering from the faithful. 

Entangling courts in religious offerings 

In 2020, a parishioner at a Catholic parish in Rhode Island filed a class action lawsuit against USCCB over the Peter’s Pence collection. The parishioner claims he was misled during a Sunday Mass about how the Church would use his Peter’s Pence offerings. He provided no evidence of who spoke from the pulpit, what was said, on what date he heard it, or the amount he decided to offer. But now the plaintiff argues that federal courts should sift through sermons nationwide to see what was said from the pulpit about Peter’s Pence, entangle civil juries in internal church information about how the Pope spent offerings sent to the Vatican to support Peter’s Pence, and require the Church to turn over all communications between USCCB, dioceses, and the Vatican related to the offering. No court has ever accepted such an intrusive request. 

Protecting churches spiritual decisions about how to use offerings   

Thus, USCCB asked a federal court to dismiss the case, arguing that courts have no business second-guessing the Church’s religious communications and decisions about the use of offerings. USCCB also pointed out that the parishioner’s claims failed at every step, as he did not provide the basic legal information required in cases like his. But in 2023, the lower court refused to dismiss O’Connell’s case and set the case on track to intrusive civil proceedings into internal church affairs.  

In 2024, Becket stepped in to represent USCCB at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The First Amendment ensures churches can decide how to spend offerings, as well as how the Church preaches about such offerings from the pulpit—all without government interference.  

Becket is urging the Court to dismiss the lawsuit and protect the Church’s ability to preach to the faithful about voluntary religious offerings. Becket explains that allowing the case to go forward would threaten virtually every faith tradition in the nation with class action lawsuits whenever members are unhappy about how the church explained or spent their offerings. If a Catholic can claw back a religious offering he voluntarily gave to the Pope, every offering collection and decision made by a house of worship, and every decision made by a faith-based charity, is in jeopardy. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities— Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government interferes in church services and controls sermons from the pulpit and offerings in the pews, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to autonomy from judicial entanglements. 

Gaddy v. Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Church taken to court over its religious beliefs 

Laura Gaddy was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for most of her life. In 2018, she found information on the internet that she believed conflicted with the Church’s teachings on its founding and history. As a result, Gaddy left the Church. She then filed a federal lawsuit in 2018 making fraud and racketeering claims against Church leadership.  

Former members challenge the Church in federal court 

In her lawsuit, Gaddy accuses the Church of misrepresenting its history and beliefs as a ploy to increase membership, which she says resulted in more tithes. She also levied a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claim against the Church, accusing it of making false statements about how it would spend members’ tithes. A federal district court in Utah dismissed her case at the outset, ruling that her lawsuit could not move forward because it would require the court to decide whether Church teachings about religious matters are true or not. Gaddy, together with two other former members, is now appealing the lower court’s decision to the Tenth Circuit.  

Becket defends the Church against court inquisitions  

On March 7, 2024, Becket filed a friend-of-the court brief at the Tenth Circuit in support of the Church. Becket’s brief explains how the law bars courts from getting involved in religious disputes between religious organizations and their former members. Religious institutions have the right to decide for themselves matters of faith, doctrine, and internal governance, free from government interference.  

The law also protects the Church’s teachings concerning its members’ tithes. Tithing is an important spiritual calling for members of the Church, and determining how to encourage and spend these funds is a matter of immense religious significance –often involving prayer, deliberation among religious authorities, and the use of sacred text. It is no business of courts to interfere in these decisions.

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

Religious Communities: Religious communities have the right to build and lead their ministries according to their beliefs free from governmental interference

Holt v. Payne

Muslim prisoner secures victory at the High Court 

Abdul Maalik Muhammad is an inmate in Arkansas state prison and a devout Muslim. In 2011, Muhammad sued the Arkansas Department of Corrections when he was denied his ability to maintain a half-inch beard in accordance with his Muslim beliefs. After losing his case in the lower court, Becket and Professor Douglas Laycock of University of Virginia Law School stepped in to represent him at the U.S. Supreme Court. In January 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in Muhammad’s favor, agreeing with Becket that denying his request to grow a religious beard violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a Congressional act passed with bipartisan support in 2000. 

Arkansas continues its campaign against religious inmates 

After his victory at the Supreme Court, the Arkansas Department of Corrections then tried to bar Muhammad from wearing a religiously required cap (kufi) and attending Friday prayer services. Though his prison held up to five different services for different Christian denominations, it refused to hold more than one Quran-based Friday prayer service each week. This forced Muslims like Muhammad and his fellow plaintiffs Rodney Martin and Wayde Earl Stewart to pray alongside adherents of Nation of Islam and Nation of Gods and Earth, who they believe do not share their Islamic beliefs. Muhammad believes that for their Friday prayer service to be valid, it must be led by and limited to Muslim believers. The district court ruled that Muhammad and his fellow Muslim inmates were not sincere in their beliefs because some had occasionally attended mixed prayer services, while others chose to boycott and didn’t attend any services that violated their faith. 

Religious believers are protected behind bars 

Becket filed a friend-of-the-court at the Eighth Circuit brief identifying at least 20 other prison systems that allow inmates like Muhammad to wear their kufi throughout the prison and asking the Court to hold Arkansas to the rigorous standard the Supreme Court set last time around. Although prisoners lose many of their rights when they are imprisoned, they should not be forced to sacrifice their commitment to their faith.  

On November 2, 2023, the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of Muhammad and his fellow plaintiffs, rebuking the district court for wrongly dismissing many of the plaintiffs’ arguments. The Eighth Circuit reaffirmed the religious liberty standards set by the U.S. Supreme Court and upheld by many other courts of appeals nationwide, and sent the case back down so that the court could apply the correct legal standard.  

Importance to religious liberty: 

  • Individual freedom: Individual religious freedom encompasses more than just thought or contemplation—it involves action. Individuals must be free to follow their religious convictions into practice, including when they are incarcerated.
     
  • RLUIPA: Like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) was passed with bipartisan support. RLUIPA ensures religious liberty in two areas where it is most vulnerable: land use and prisons 

Pleasant View Baptist Church v. Beshear

Faithful education in the Bluegrass State

Kentucky is home to an array of faith-based schools that exist to help students harness the skills they need to thrive and grow deeper in faith. Many of these schools operate as ministries of their churches, including Pleasant View Baptist School, Veritas Christian School, and Micah Christian School. As part of their mission to provide children with an education in their faith, these schools teach religion in the classroom and hold chapel services for their students. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Kentucky’s faith-based schools were diligent in implementing significant and costly measures to stop the spread of the virus, including social distancing, temperature checks, and mask wearing. 

Governor Beshear targets faith-based schools 

Eight months after the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear issued two executive orders. The first required all elementary, middle, and high schools—including private religious schools—to stop in-person instruction and transition to virtual learning. In contrast, the second allowed other businesses, like daycares, preschools, colleges, factories, gyms, bowling allies, theaters, and casinos, to continue to operate in person so long as they followed public health guidance. 

This unequal treatment was particularly troubling for private religious schools. The Governor’s actions denied religious communities the ability to pass down their faith to the next generation of believers. It also kept religious schoolchildren from vital in person chapel services, religious instruction, and other communal events that cannot be translated to an on-line format. The Governor’s rules led to absurd results: a church could offer Sunday School classes on Sunday and open a daycare on Monday, but if it used the same classrooms—and the same public health measures—to operate a religious school, it could face criminal penalties and fines.  It also meant that kids could go to the movies and teachers go gambling, but neither could go to school. 

Worse, the Governor was a repeat offender. He had already been slapped down twice by federal courts for shuttering religious ministries while allow secular entities to continue operating. And just after his order came out, the Supreme Court barred the governor of New York from doing the same thing to Jewish synagogues and Catholic churches. Yet Governor Beshear issued his new order closing religious schools and kept enforcing it even after the Supreme Court’s ruling. 

Vindicating religious education in Kentucky 

On November 23, 2020, a group of churches, religious schools and individual parents filed a lawsuit against Governor Beshear, challenging his restrictions on faith-based education. They argue that the governor’s actions unlawfully treat religious activity worse than other activities that posed the same risk of spreading COVID-19.  

The district court ruled that the governor’s actions were protected by qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that can shield public officials from legal liability. On appeal, the Sixth Circuit upheld the lower court’s ruling. In September of 2023, the coalition of churches, schools, and parents, asked the court to reconsider the case in front of a full panel of judges. Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a rehearing, arguing that the court’s ruling violated its prior decisions and Supreme Court decisions.  

On October 3, 2023, the Sixth Circuit denied rehearing the case. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities— Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened.  

Garrick v. Moody Bible Institute

A historic beacon of faith and hope 

Moody was founded in 1886 by prominent evangelist Dwight L. Moody, at the behest of Emma Dryer – a teacher who was instrumental in helping launch the school. Originally named the Chicago Evangelization Society, the purpose of the school was to train men and women from all walks of life to bring the Christian faith to all people. Today, Moody offers undergraduate, seminary, and missionary aviation training to equip students to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to be Biblically grounded, and to engage the world through Gospel-centered teaching and living. Moody offers various degrees to develop the next generation of Christian leaders, including Biblical Studies, Biblical Languages, Biblical Preaching, Pastoral Studies, Theology, Worship Music, Children and Family Ministry, Ministry Leadership, and Communications. Moody offers full-time residential undergraduate students at Moody’s Chicago campus a full tuition grant to help minimize the cost of an undergraduate education, allowing graduates to serve wherever they are called.  

Moody graduates have served the most vulnerable members of society in the U.S. and around the world—all while sharing their faith. For example, Moody missionary aviators fly patients to hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and medical supplies to remote parts of Papua, Indonesia. A Moody Theological Seminary graduate operates a women’s shelter in Chicago to care for and minister to victims of sexual exploitation. Moody graduates feed the poor in Cambodia and care for refugees from Central and South America. Graduates have also recently traveled to war-torn Ukraine to bring hope and comfort to families driven from their homes and their country. And a statue honoring Moody alumnae Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator and civil rights activist, was recently erected in the U.S. Capitol’s Statutory Hall. 

In addition to its faith-centered in-person and online education, Moody educates and equips through its media ministries, Moody Radio and Moody Publishers. Moody relies on all aspects of its ministry to share the Gospel message around the world. Moody’s Communications Department and other faculty are foundational in equipping students with the knowledge and expertise to communicate faith and hope to the world.  

A threat to Moody’s 137-year-old ministry 

Every member of the Moody faculty plays a role in the formation of Moody’s students in foundational Biblical truths. Moody ensures that its ministry remains steadfast by asking all faculty to adhere to its religious beliefs. One of these beliefs is that men and women have unique, complementary roles in the local church. Moody believes that all people have equal dignity and value as lovingly created by God, and that Christian women and men can serve as leaders in faith and ministry. Consistent with its interpretation of Scripture, Moody also believes that the specific biblical church office of pastor (or “elder”) is reserved for men who meet the Bible’s stringent spiritual qualifications.

Despite knowing about and agreeing to adhere to these religious beliefs, a Moody faculty member began advocating against them. After her own admission that she did not share Moody’s beliefs and her inability to sincerely sign Moody’s annual doctrinal statement affirmation, the professor’s teaching contract was not renewed. In response, she is asking the government and the courts to take her side in a religious dispute and punish Moody for acting in accordance with its religious beliefs.  

Protecting a religious college’s religious mission 

Faith-based ministries like Moody are free to decide matters of faith and doctrine—including the qualifications for those who hold senior church offices, without judges or juries getting to second-guess those decisions. The law protects the ability of churches and religious organizations to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the teachings of their faith. This is especially important within the context of a religious school like Moody, which is charged with forming the next generations of pastors, leaders, and ministers. 

Further, several religions—including Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Orthodox Jews, and Muslims—make specific distinctions between men and women in their doctrines of religious leadership and worship. The law protects against government intrusion and entanglement in such sensitive religious beliefs at the heart of so many houses of worship. 

On March 18, 2024, a divided panel of the Seventh Circuit ruled 2-1 against Moody.

Importance to Religious Liberty:  

Religious communities — The ability of individuals to gather freely together to worship and teach their religion is a cornerstone of religious liberty. U.S. law has always protected the rights of religious ministries, schools, and churches to be able to make their own rules and live out their own values free from government interference. 

St. Dominic Academy v. Makin

Commitment to Catholic education   

For years, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Portland—including St. Dominic Academy—played a vital role in assisting parents educate their children through the state’s tuition assistance program. This program allows families who live in rural school districts to educate their children at private schools where there is no public school nearby. Unfortunately, the state has excluded religious schools from the program for decades—shutting out families who want both strong academics and a faith-based education for their kids. 

Daniel and Nancy Cronin are one such family who live in Fayette, Maine. Their son is eligible for Maine’s tuition program, but the nearest public high school doesn’t provide the academic support that he needs, and the nearest private school that participates in the program would cost them over $40,000 a year. The Cronins believe that St. Dominic offers the best environment for their son, and at $14,450 a year, it is the most affordable private day school in Maine. However, because Maine is keeping schools with St. Dominic’s beliefs out of its tuition program, Daniel and Nancy must work additional jobs to pay for his tuition at St. Dominic. 

The Cronin’s story is not unique. Keith and Valori Radonis are Catholic parents who lived in rural Maine and believed St. Dominic was the best fit for their children. Due to the state’s exclusion, they were denied the opportunity to participate in the program and were forced to pay out of pocket for tuition at St. Dominic. 

The Diocese of Portland’s schools, including St. Dominic, have long offered outstanding academics, graduating high-achieving classes of students that excel on standardized tests and go on to elite colleges and universities. Inspired by Catholic social tradition, they also teach students to devote themselves to serving others from all walks of life. For example, students in the diocese have raised money for food kitchens, cared for the elderly at senior homes, joined mission trips to Mississippi to help rebuild homes devastated by hurricanes, sponsored donation drives for asylum seekers, hosted baby showers to aid local mothers, and raised money to support veterans and their families.  

In 1982, Maine abruptly excluded faith-based schools like St. Dominic from the program simply because they were religious. Maine still paid tuition for Maine students attending out-of-state boarding schools and public schools in Quebec, but not for Maine students who wanted to go to religious schools located in Maine. In the decades following, these schools were unable to partner with rural Maine families. This exclusion hasn’t just burdened families—it’s strained the schools themselves. One diocesan high school closed one year after Maine’s exclusion began. Now, after 40 years of being cut off from the program, St. Dominic—the Diocese’s last remaining Catholic high school—is closing its doors because of declining enrollment.  

Maine skirts the law to bar funding to religious education 

In 2018, three families brought a challenge to Maine’s religious education ban in Carson v. Makin. The Supreme Court took the case, and in 2022 a six-Justice majority struck the state law down, paving the way for St. Dominic and many other faith-based schools to begin serving rural Maine families again. 

However, in the lead up to the Carson case at the Supreme Court, officials in Maine saw the writing on the wall. Anticipating that the Court would strike down Maine’s ban on religious schools, Maine passed a new law to keep the religious schools it did not like out. Maine’s new law gives the Maine Human Rights Commission—not parents or the school—the final word on admissions, conduct, speech, and policies upholding Catholic beliefs regarding marriage, gender, and family life. As a result, faith-based schools with traditional beliefs are still being excluded from the state program to help rural families. 

Protecting faith-based schools and the families they serve 

Maine is punishing schools like St. Dominic because of its commitment to providing a holistic education in accordance with its Catholic beliefs. It is also punishing rural families like the Cronins who want to use the tuition program to send their children to faith-based schools. The Supreme Court has consistently and recently affirmed that states cannot cut off generally available funding from faith-based schools and families because they are religious. Faith-based schools should have the ability to partner with parents who want the best education for their children.  

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

Education: Religious schools should be able to participate in publicly available programs, and religious school students should be able to participate in these programs on equal footing as students who attend non-religious schools.

Vitagliano v. County of Westchester

A call to serve society’s most vulnerable

Debra Vitagliano is a devout Catholic and an occupational therapist. At a young age, she discerned her vocation to serve children with special needs after seeing a poster of a little girl using Lofstrand crutches. For over 40 years, Debra has lived out her vocation by working with children diagnosed with various physical and neurological disabilities, including severe disabilities that some seek to address by abortion.

Debra’s work with special needs children has led her to see the inherent worth of each person, no matter their level of functioning. Consistent with her Catholic faith, Debra opposes abortion and sees it as the deliberate termination of an innocent human life.

Two years ago, Debra began participating in a prayer vigil at the Planned Parenthood in White Plains, New York. As part of her vigil, Debra engaged in peaceful prayer and held signs about the impacts of abortion on both expecting mothers and fathers. During this time, Debra trained to volunteer as a counselor to abortion-vulnerable women. She views this ministry as a final attempt to turn pregnant women away from abortion and to save the lives of unborn children.

Westchester “buffer zone” restricts free speech

Just before Debra started sidewalk counseling, Westchester County passed a law restricting free speech around abortion clinics. The law established a 100-foot zone around abortion clinics and prohibited anyone from approaching within eight feet of a person in that zone to provide information or counseling unless given express consent. Enacted after the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade, the law was passed to stop life-affirming advocates from peacefully engaging with women in their time of most need.

Debra is motivated by her faith to help vulnerable women approaching abortion clinics, but the Westchester law barred her and all others who seek to offer this help by threats of fine or imprisonment. It also deprived women of receiving peaceful and often welcomed offers to help.

Protecting free speech in the public square

The First Amendment protects the right to a free and peaceful exchange of ideas, which includes an individual’s ability to have personal conversations about matters of public concern in public places. Under the Westchester law, if Debra approached a woman to tell her that she is loved and that there are alternatives to abortion, Debra could have been criminally punished.

Once Debra appealed her case to the United States Supreme Court, Westchester County quickly backtracked and repealed the law. With the support of Planned Parenthood, Westchester County admitted that it did not need to threaten sidewalk counselors with jail time for peacefully approaching and offering help and information to women in need. On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. 

Importance to religious liberty

  • Free speech: Free speech includes the right to a free and peaceful exchange of ideas with others—including religious ideas. Freedom of speech and religious liberty go hand-in-hand; protecting one protects the other.
  • Individual freedom: Religious freedom includes the freedom to practice one’s faith in all areas of life, both public and private, free of government interference.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Debra Vitagliano, sidewalk counseling outside a Westchester County abortion clinic on October 12, 2023.

Loffman v. California Department of Education

Donate to Support Becket’s Efforts in Loffman v. California Department of Education

Watch: A Better IDEA

Finding an education that accommodates unique needs and faith  

Every parent that has a child with disabilities must navigate a complex system of services and resources to find the right educational fit for that child. Chaya and Yoni Loffman, Fedora Nick and Morris Taxon, and Sarah and Ariel Perets are Jewish parents in California who have the obligation of providing their children with an education that reflects their religious values. These parents want to find schools that not only will equip their children with the tools necessary to flourish, but also with an education structured around the Jewish tradition.  

Shalhevet High School and Yavneh Hebrew Academy are top-notch Jewish schools in Los Angeles that provide what Jewish parents want most: a premier education that seamlessly integrates their shared Jewish faith. Shalhevet and Yavneh also desire to provide a safe and supportive environment that offers a distinctively Jewish education to children with disabilities.    

Religious children with disabilities left behind by California politicians 

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law ensuring that all children with disabilities in America can receive an education that is right for them. To accomplish this, IDEA provides grants to states in exchange for a free and appropriate public education that is tailored to each child’s unique needs. These grants pay for essential resources like assistive technology, staff training, special education programs, and other services. Like other states, California supplements federal IDEA funding with state special education funding. 

IDEA also provides for students to be placed in private schools that can meet their needs when public schools cannot offer a free and appropriate education. In California, however, legislators have excluded religious parents and schools from accessing federal and state special education funding and services. Even though private non-religious schools are eligible under California law, and even though a recent poll shows that only around a quarter of Californians think that the state’s public schools are doing a good job of helping children with disabilities, parents are unable to send their children to religious schools that will meet their needs.  

Additionally, religious schools are unable to receive the support necessary to fully welcome all students with disabilities into their communities. This leaves many religious families in California without the ability to give their children an education that is best for them. It also disproportionately affects lower-income families, as children from low-income households are more likely to have a disability than children living above the poverty line.  

The law protects children with disabilities from discrimination by Sacramento politicians 

California politicians cannot deny children with disabilities the safe and supportive learning environments they deserve because they are religious, nor can they exclude schools from participating in the program simply because they are religious. Parents of children with disabilities already face complex challenges in finding the right school for their children, and California is making it even more challenging for religious parents.  

As the Supreme Court has consistently and recently affirmed, public benefits that are open to private secular organizations must also be open to religious ones. Denying religious parents of children with disabilities the opportunity to send their children to religious schools clearly violates the law and must end. It also goes against what the state’s residents believe—according to a recent poll, nearly 60% of Californians think that children with disabilities should be able to use federal and state funding to go to religious schools, but the state’s elected representatives are making that impossible. 

The Orthodox Union, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, representing nearly 1,000 congregations as well as more than 400 Jewish non-public K-12 schools across the United States, is supporting Becket’s effort to protect religious parents, their children and religious schools’ right to access special education funding in the state of California.  

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

Education: Religious schools should be able to participate in publicly available programs without discrimination, and religious school students should be able to participate in these programs on equal footing as students who attend non-religious schools.

Seattle Pacific University v. Ferguson

About Seattle Pacific University

A Christian Liberal Arts University Engages the Culture

For over 130 years, Seattle Pacific University has welcomed students to join a diverse community of thoughtful scholarship and outward-focused Christian faith. Seattle Pacific holds fast to its mission to engage the culture and change the world. While SPU welcomes students from all (or no) faith backgrounds, it encourages every student to explore or grow deeper in Christian faith. This mission requires engaging in complex topics with personal and spiritual sensitivity. At Seattle Pacific, employees are asked to be committed to and embody this mission and belief. Yet that mission is now under threat.

A Political Test for a Religious Institution

In June 2022, The Washington Attorney General’s office launched a probe into Seattle Pacific University’s beliefs and policies on marriage and human sexuality. They demanded personal information about employees and years’ worth of sensitive employee documents. The University had no choice but to ask a federal court to protect its religious identity and mission.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the state has targeted Seattle Pacific because of its religious beliefs. In the 1980s, the state of Washington attempted to interfere in Seattle Pacific University’s faith-based hiring decisions. The university sought protection in court, and after eighteen months of litigation, the state backed down. Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has only further protected the right of religious institutions to make faith-based hiring decisions and resolve issues of doctrine and practice within their own religious communities, free from governmental interference.

Faced with an unconstitutional investigation, Seattle Pacific is again asking a federal court to protect the healthy separation of church and state and the University’s ability to make its own decisions about faith, employees, and leadership. If the University is subject to this kind of government scrutiny, the same thing can happen to religious schools of every faith. Fortunately, the law is clear on this point and has been for years: governments cannot tell religious institutions what to believe or who should lead them.

Government Attempt to Change Doctrine

On October 26, 2022, a Washington federal district court heard Seattle Pacific’s case. The court ruled against Seattle Pacific on purely procedural grounds, saying that the University should continue its claims in state court. Becket appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where it asked the court to protect the school’s ability to educate students in accordance with its faith without government interference.  On June 7, 2024, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Seattle Pacific University could continue its efforts to defend itself and its First Amendment rights in federal court. 

 

Importance to Religious Liberty:

Church Autonomy: Seattle Pacific University is supported by a legacy of church autonomy cases, including Hosanna-Tabor and Our Lady of Guadalupe. These cases and other lower court decisions highlight the importance of a religious community being able to make its own decisions about what it believes, what it teaches, and who can lead it. Therefore, a victory for the University means that many diverse religious groups are free to decide for themselves what they believe and who leads them.

 

Photo Credit: Ian Dewar Photography

YU Pride Alliance v. Yeshiva University

A uniquely Jewish institution 

For more than 135 years, Yeshiva University has been a place where students can immerse themselves in Jewish culture to study the Torah, learn Hebrew, and receive an education steeped in the Modern Orthodox tradition. The school gets its name from the word “yeshiva,” referring to a Jewish religious school dedicated to study of the Talmud. True to its name, all undergraduate men spend two to six hours each day intensely studying Torah. Undergraduate women take at least two Jewish studies courses every semester. Shabbat (the Jewish sabbath) is observed campus wide, as are the laws of kashrut (kosher food).  

As at most yeshivas and Jewish seminaries, there are sex-segregated classes, dorms, and even campuses. Students are strongly encouraged to dress and conduct themselves consistent with Torah values. Yeshiva’s strong religious environment pervades its campuses, accommodating and supporting the schools’ reason for existing and the faith of its students.  

Putting a judicial thumb on the scale

Yeshiva lives out its religious commitment by striving to bring Torah values to the modern secular world. In this pursuit, Yeshiva has long sought both to uphold Torah moral teachings and to welcome and protect its LGBTQ students. It has strong anti-discrimination policies and has held many public events over the past decade to explore what it means to be LGBTQ and Jewish, and how the University can demonstrate greater respect and understanding for LGBTQ students.  

In 2020, a group of students asked Yeshiva to officially recognize a new student club called “YU Pride Alliance.” Following extensive discussion with the students, Yeshiva’s administrators and Roshei Yeshiva (“senior rabbis”) introduced several changes on campus to better support LGBTQ students. But Yeshiva concluded that a club called “Pride Alliance”—as described by the students and understand by the culture at large—would not be consistent with its Torah values. Nevertheless, Yeshiva remained committed to ongoing dialogue regarding forums or clubs that would be consistent with Torah values.  

Unhappy with Yeshiva’s religious decision, the students sued. They demanded that a court force Yeshiva to endorse the Pride Alliance, regardless of its 3,000-year-old religious values. 

Protected by law 

Both the U.S. Constitution—as recently affirmed by the Supreme Court in Our Lady of Guadalupe—and New York City’s Human Rights Law protect Yeshiva University’s ability, as a private religious institution, to carry out its religious mission in keeping with its religious teachings. 

After the New York County Supreme Court denied Yeshiva University’s arguments and concluded that the school was not a “religious corporation” under city law and not protected by the U.S. Constitution, the Court entered a permanent injunction ordering Yeshiva to “immediately” violate its Torah values and approve the club. On behalf of Yeshiva University, Becket moved quickly to request relief from both the New York Appellate Division and the New York Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court), but both requests were rejected on August 25, 2022. Four days later, on August 29, 2022, Becket filed an emergency request to the United States Supreme Court, requesting that the Court intervene to stay the violation of Yeshiva’s First Amendment rights pending appeal.  

On September 9, Justice Sotomayor entered an emergency stay, protecting Yeshiva pending a full Court decision. In a 5-4 decision, the full Court lifted that stay, while also stating that “[i]f Yeshiva seek[s] and receive[s] neither expedited review nor interim relief from the New York courts, [it] may return to this Court.” At the same time, four justices dissented, saying that Yeshiva should have been granted immediate relief. And if Yeshiva comes back, they added, “Yeshiva would likely win.” Failure by the New York courts to grant relief, they said, would be “a shocking development that calls out for [SCOTUS] review.” The following Monday, the New York Appellate Division agreed to rehear its denial of Yeshiva’s stay request. After these two court rulings, Pride Alliance agreed to voluntarily stay the injunction against Yeshiva pending all appeals, including back up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.  

After the agreed-to stay, Yeshiva and the students worked towards a resolution in the case. As a result, the plaintiffs agreed to a club created by the University that follows rabbinically-approved guidelines and is designed to help students live fully halachic lives.  

Billard v. Diocese of Charlotte

The Diocese’s Dedication 

As an essential part of its mission to pass on the Catholic faith, the Diocese of Charlotte operates 19 schools across western North Carolina, including nine in the fast-growing Charlotte area. The Diocese’s schools are sought after for a reason: they not only provide an academically rigorous education in a diverse environment; they are also committed to teaching students the Catholic faith. To accomplish its religious mission, the Diocese asks all employees to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church. 

The Lawsuit  

Lonnie Billard taught English and Drama at Charlotte Catholic High School for 12 years before retiring and transferring to a substitute role. To teach at Charlotte Catholic, he signed a contract agreeing to uphold teachings of the Catholic Church. But in 2015, he entered a same-sex marriage in knowing violation of Catholic teaching and made public statements on social media advocating against Church teaching. When the school chose not to keep calling Billard as a substitute teacher, he partnered with the ACLU to sue the school and the Diocese for asking their teachers to support the school’s religious mission. 

Upholding a Religious Mission 

The Constitution and federal law protect the right of parents to direct the religious education of their children, and the right of religious institutions like the Diocese of Charlotte to select teachers who agree to uphold their religious mission. These rights have repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme Court, which has emphasized that “educating young people in their faith, inculcating its teachings, and training them to live their faith are responsibilities that lie at the very core of the mission of a private religious school.” Religious organizations must be free to choose those who carry out their religious mission. This not only protects the fundamental freedoms of parents and religious schools to decide how to pass on their faith, but also protects the proper separation of church and state.  

On September 3, 2021, a federal district court in Charlotte, North Carolina, ruled against the Diocese of Charlotte. The Diocese appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which on May 8, 2024, reversed the district court and affirmed that faith-based schools like Charlotte Catholic enjoy broad freedom to employ teachers who agree to uphold their faith. The court explained that Billard was a minister because Charlotte Catholic required all its teachers to “model and promote Catholic faith and morals,” making Billard, as a teacher at the school, a ‘“messenger’ of its faith.” The Fourth Circuit reiterated that teachers at faith-based schools “are different,” because they are entrusted with “responsibilities that lie at the very core of the mission of a private religious school.” Since the First Amendment states that civil courts are ‘“bound to stay out’ of employment disputes involving ministers,” the court held that Billard’s lawsuit could not proceed. Billard and the ACLU decided not to appeal this decision.  

The Diocese of Charlotte was represented by Becket and Troutman Pepper. 

Importance for Religious Liberty: 

  • Freedom of religious groups from state intrusion on religious affairs: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and organize themselves in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association.  

Singh v. Berger

A Firm Faith Tradition 

For centuries, Sikhs have lived according to the teachings of the gurus, which instruct them to shun evil and seek self-mastery, to regard God’s creation as sacred, and to always defend the weak and helpless. Many devout Sikhs live out their religious duty to defend the defenseless by serving with distinction in militaries around the world while maintaining their articles of faith, including unshorn hair. But Sikhs who seek to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps find themselves forced to choose between their religious obligations and their calling to do good. 

Uniformity with Exceptions  

Aekash Singh, Jaskirat Singh, and Milaap Singh Chahal faced a horrible dilemma when they sought to join the Marine Corps: shave and abandon their religious beliefs or go home. Even though the recruits passed all the medical and physical tests required to join, the Marine Corps argues that they must shave their beards to begin basic training because having a “uniform appearance” is necessary during recruit training. But other Marines are allowed to grow out their beards for medical reasons, and the Army, Air Force, and United States Military Academy permit religious beards during initial training.  

 The Marine Corps has been relaxing its uniformity standard for years specifically to promote greater diversity, allowing more diverse hairstyles, updating its dress code to better accommodate women, and even loosening longstanding bans on tattoos. In addition, the Marine Corps has recently granted Marines—including those in bootcamp—more leeway to grow a beard to combat “razor bumps,” a painful medical condition that inflames the face and neck after a close shave. And the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force have long been able to accommodate Sikh servicemembers—beards and all—without compromising mission readiness or safety.  

A Longstanding Defense 

Fortunately, the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ban the federal government from restricting religious freedom unnecessarily. This means that denying religious accommodations by asserting a need for uniformity while granting lots of other secular exceptions is not only unfair but unlawful as well. Sikhs shouldn’t have to choose between their faith’s teachings that encourage their military service, and their religious understanding of God’s requirements for their physical appearance. Their lawsuit simply asks the government to provide them with religious accommodations equal to those granted to Marines for secular reasons. 

In August 2022, a D.C. district court ruled in Toor v. Berger that the three Marine recruits should not be protected with religious accommodations while the case is ongoing. Aekash Singh, Jaskirat Singh and Milaap Singh Chahal appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, asking the court to allow them to enter basic training while keeping their articles of faith. On December 23, 2022, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled to protect the three Sikh recruits’ faith while their case continues. Judge Millett wrote for the court, saying that the Marines Corps has never explained “why the Corps cannot apply the same or similar [religious] accommodations that the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and Coast Guard provide.” 

Captain Toor, Aekash Singh, Jaskirat Singh and Milaap Chahal are represented by Becket, Winston & Strawn, and the Sikh Coalition. Jaskirat Singh is also represented by Baker Hostetler. 

Importance for Religious Liberty: 

  • Individual freedom: For generations, people have sought out the United States as a place where they could freely live out their individual beliefs. That freedom does not end where military service begins: the Constitution, federal law, and the traditions of the armed forces all recognize that American servicemembers serve their country best when their own religious freedoms are protected.  

 

Photo Credit: Sikh Coalition

Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified School District

Creating a safe environment for students to learn and grow

Teachers and administrators are entrusted with safeguarding our youth and modeling appropriate behavior—a particularly important responsibility during high school, when students are preparing to become adults. But at San Jose Unified School District in California, instead of fostering an environment that’s inclusive of diverse viewpoints, teachers and administrators targeted religious students for their beliefs and forced them to go to court to fight for a place in their campus community.

Targeted for their faith

While they were students at the district’s Pioneer High School, Elizabeth Sinclair and Charlotte Klarke served as co-presidents of Pioneer’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) student club. FCA is a national organization which supports student-athletes committed to living out their faith on and off the playing field. The club held regular meetings open to all students, empowering them to share their faith, grow as athletes, serve their local community, and encourage one another through testimony, prayer, and Bible study.

FCA has had a presence in the San Jose Unified School District for over a decade. But in 2019, district officials derecognized FCA and forced the student group off campus after a Pioneer teacher attacked the group’s Christian beliefs in his classroom. The teacher targeted the club during class time, and then sent emails to the school principal describing FCA’s beliefs in vulgar language and advocating for FCA’s removal from campus. He even suggested that FCA’s beliefs and mere presence on campus should be treated as equivalent to sexual harassment. Why? All because FCA wanted to choose leaders who shared their Christian beliefs, which the teacher and the district said was illegal discrimination. Within two weeks, Pioneer FCA was kicked off campus by the district, and eventually all three FCA student clubs in the district were shut out. When students tried to get the FCA club reestablished on campus the next semester, their request was denied—while at the same time, the school recognized a Satanic Temple Club that formed for the purpose of protesting FCA.

Standing together in faith

FCA clubs welcome all students and believe that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. At Pioneer, school officials even acknowledged that the club “does great things on campus” and is led by “great students.” But none of this mattered when district officials determined that the club couldn’t choose leaders who shared its faith. Across the district, numerous student groups require both leaders and members to support the purpose of the group. Groups like the National Honor Society can exclude students who don’t have a high enough GPA, and sports clubs are allowed to exclude students based on their sex. FCA’s request is even more modest. All students are welcome to attend FCA meetings. The club asks only that those who seek to lead FCA’s ministry affirm the club’s religious beliefs. Even so, district officials targeted FCA and labeled the club “discriminatory,” even while allowing numerous other student groups to choose leaders who align with their missions.

After discussions with the district failed, FCA and its student leaders asked a federal court to order the district to allow it equal access to meet on campus—just like other student clubs. As FCA explained, its request is eminently reasonable: all FCA asks is that those students who lead its ministry—directing Bible studies, leading worship, and determining the direction of the club’s ministry—agree with the very beliefs that animate the club’s mission and ministry. On August 29, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that FCA students must be treated fairly and equally and that the District could not discriminate against their religious leadership standards under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Access Act. 

The District responded by shutting down all other student groups for Fall 2022 and asking the full Ninth Circuit to reconsider its decision protecting FCA. On January 18, 2023, the Ninth Circuit agreed to rehear the case “en banc” (before a panel of eleven federal judges). Oral argument took place on March 23. On September 13, 2023, the en banc Ninth Circuit overturned the district court’s decision and upheld the ability of FCA student clubs to freely gather on campus. 

Agudath Israel of America v. Cuomo

Can Governor Cuomo target New York City’s Jewish communities?

Governor Cuomo openly singled out Jewish synagogues like Agudath Israel’s for disfavored treatment,  claiming  that “because of their [Orthodox Jews’] religious practices, etc., we’re seeing a spread [of COVID-19]” and threatened to “close the [Orthodox Jewish religious] institutions down.” Although Governor Cuomo openly admitted the supposedly elevated rates of COVID-19 would not be considered serious in many other states, he drew restrictive “Red” lockdown zones around predominately Orthodox Jewish parts of New York City. These zones heavily restricted worship, closed schools, and prevented Jewish families from celebrating holidays while mere blocks away, schools were open and restaurants were serving customers. Far from being scientifically justifiable, Cuomo himself has admitted that his drastic actions were taken out of a concern for public opinion, not public health, saying the lockdown zones were “a fear driven response” and admitting “this is not a policy being written by a scalpel, this is a policy being cut by a hatchet.” As a result, a Brooklyn federal judge found that “the Governor of New York made remarkably clear that this Order was intended to target [Orthodox Jewish] institutions.”

Standing up for equal treatment

In response to this unfair treatment, Agudath Israel filed a lawsuit in federal court on October 8, arguing that the discriminatory nature of Cuomo’s “cluster action initiative” rendered it unconstitutional. After the district court denied an immediate injunction, Agudath appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for an emergency ruling protecting them while the case was being argued in the lower court. On November 9, 2020, the Second Circuit declined, in a 2-1 decision, to stop the restrictions before the case was argued, with Judge Park dissenting. However, recognizing the importance of the case, the Court fast-tracked that briefing and argument in the case. 

On November 16, 2020, Becket, along with co-counsel Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, asked the Supreme Court to issue an emergency injunction halting Governor Cuomo’s discriminatory regulations until the case was decided. Pointing to Cuomo’s own admissions of targeting Orthodox Jews, the fact that the governor’s lockdown zones restricted Orthodox Jewish communities more harshly than other communities with equivalent or higher rates of COVID-19 infection, and the Supreme Court’s robust precedent protecting religious groups from hostile discrimination, Becket asked the Supreme Court to lift the governor’s restrictive “religious gerrymander” until the case was decided in court. On November 25, the Supreme Court granted the injunction, finding that Governor Cuomo’s “rules can be viewed as targeting the ‘ultra-Orthodox [Jewish] community,’” that there was no evidence that the houses of worship who brought the case had contributed to the spread of disease, and that the regulations violated the First Amendment by privileging secular activities over religious exercise.

The Court’s opinion made clear that “…even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten. The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty.”

On December 28, 2020 the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled 3-0 in favor of Agudath Israel, halting Governor Cuomo’s 10- and 25-person caps on religious worship while the case is pending.

Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish

Walking with the Church

St. Andrew the Apostle Parish has been serving a Polish immigrant neighborhood in the city of Chicago for over 120 years. As part of the Archdiocese of Chicago, St. Andrew Parish is dedicated to ministering to all Catholics, including LGBTQ Catholics seeking to walk with the Church.

For over 25 years, the Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach (AGLO) has been a community of accompaniment that seeks to meet LGBTQ people where they are. During the AIDS epidemic, AGLO worked closely with the Catholic Charities HIV/AIDS ministries and generously contributed its time, money, and prayer to help the afflicted and offer them hope in the face of a terrible disease. Today, AGLO offers weekly Mass and Sacraments, retreats and days of reflection, and prayer and discussion groups to help LGBTQ Catholics find a place of pastoral outreach in the Church.

Violating Church Teachings

Sandor Demkovich was hired by St. Andrew Parish in 2012. During his time with St. Andrew, Mr. Demkovich served as music director, choir director and organist. These positions are important roles within the religious life of the parish. As music director, Mr. Demkovich shared the Catholic faith with members of the parish through music—he helped select scripturally appropriate music for Masses and other important sacraments, played the organ during services, and helped lead the congregation in singing hymns.

As a minister of the faith and a representative of the parish, Mr. Demkovich was responsible for upholding the teachings of the faith in word and action. But in 2014, after working at the parish for two years, the parish was required to end Mr. Demkovich’s participation in its ministry because he entered into a same-sex marriage in violation of his agreement to bear witness to and promote the Church’s 2,000-year-old teachings, including those on marriage.

Ignoring the ministerial exception

In December 2016, Mr. Demkovich sued St. Andrew Parish and the Archdiocese of Chicago, claiming that he had been discriminated against because of his sexual orientation and subjected to a hostile work environment.

The district court allowed some of Mr. Demkovich’s claims against the Archdiocese to proceed, even though Mr. Demkovich admitted that the religious importance of his position at the parish made him a minister. In August 2020, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit also ruled against the Archdiocese. The ruling conflicted with previous Seventh Circuit decisions, rulings of other federal circuits, and the Supreme Court’s just-issued decision in Our Lady of Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru, in which the Supreme Court affirmed the right of churches to select and supervise their leaders and ministers free from government interference. 

The Archdiocese of Chicago, represented by Becket, asked the entire 11-judge Seventh Circuit to reconsider the panel’s decision.  The court agreed, with one judge recused, and heard arguments on February 9, 2021.  

On July 9, 2021, the Seventh Circuit ruled 7-3 to reverse its previous decision and declare that the “ministerial exception” protects the entire ministerial relationship and not just the beginning or end.  

Plaintiff chose not to seek Supreme Court review, ending the case in favor of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish.

The Archdiocese of Chicago is also represented by its general counsel, Jim Geoly, who presented oral argument before the panel and the en banc court, and by Alex Marks at Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C. 

Importance to Religious Liberty:

Woodring v. Jackson County

A multi-denominational coalition that serves its community and brings people together

The Brownstown Area Ministerial Association is a coalition of diverse Christian ministers in Jackson County, Indiana, that serves its community through prayer, fellowship, outreach, and direct aid. Twice each year, the Ministerial Association holds services to encourage Christian fellowship and raise funds for its direct aid program, which includes a community food pantry and direct aid for those who need temporary assistance with rent, mortgage, and utility bills.

In 2003, the Ministerial Association purchased, with broad community support, a nativity scene to display in front of the Jackson County Courthouse during the Christmas season. In addition to commemorating the Christmas season, over the years the nativity scene has become a staple in the local “Hometown Christmas celebration.” And the area around the display—replete with a Christmas tree, presents, and numerous other holiday fixtures—serves as a gathering place for the community, encouraging people to socialize and support nearby local businesses (the Chamber of Commerce is even a sponsor).

A longstanding tradition at risk

For almost two decades, the Brownstown nativity scene has been displayed without incident. But in 2018, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the county asking for the nativity to be removed because of its religious symbolism. Not long after, the ACLU of Indiana sued the county on behalf of an out-of-town individual who passed by the display and felt offended by it.

On April 29, 2020, the district court ruled against Jackson County, holding that the display violated the Establishment Clause. The County appealed to the Seventh Circuit.

Recognizing the role of religion in our nation’s traditions—past and present

 On August 5, 2020, Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Ministerial Association, owners of the nativity scene. The brief explains why the First Amendment permits the government to include religious symbols and practices in its annual holiday traditions—because they are a part of our nation’s rich religious history that has long been celebrated in Jackson County. Requiring governments to strip the religious elements from Christmas and to only celebrating the secular would not only deny the religious roots of the holiday, it would sanction government hostility to religion by favoring the non-religious over the religious.

In striking down the display, the district court applied the much criticized and now specifically rejected  Lemon test. But, as Becket’s brief explains, the Supreme Court held in American Legion v. American Humanist Association (June 20, 2019) that the Lemon test no longer applies to religious displays. Instead, the Establishment Clause must be interpreted to allow governments to celebrate our history and traditions—not to scrub the public square of religious imagery.

On February 2, 2021, the Seventh Circuit ruled that the nativity scene at the Jackson County courthouse could stay, saying that the County’s display “fits within a long national tradition of using the nativity scene in broader holiday displays to ‘depict the historical origins’ of Christmas– a ‘traditional event long recognized as a National Holiday.'”

Importance to Religious Liberty:

  • Public square: Religion is a natural part of human culture and has a natural place in the public square. The government is not required to strip the public square of important symbols just because they are religious. Instead, the government can and should recognize the important role of religion in our history and culture.

Spirit of Aloha Temple v. County of Maui

A sanctuary for spiritual growth

A Hindu organization called Spirit of Aloha Temple purchased land in Maui County, Hawaii, in 2007 for religious use. Years later, the Temple decided to expand its ministry by holding weddings on its property. Because the land was zoned for agricultural use, to construct the facilities it needed to host celebrations, the Temple had to apply for a special use permit from the county (a permit which secular entities are routinely granted).

Stifled by bureaucrats

Unfortunately, the Temple was denied the permit application by a commission of unelected government bureaucrats, who cited concerns such as increased traffic to the area around wedding celebrations. The Spirit of Aloha Temple sued, arguing that the permit denial restricted the practice of its faith and violated the RLUIPA. Passed by Congress in 2000, RLUIPA protects people of all faiths from zoning and land use laws being manipulated to squelch religious practices on a religious organization’s own land.

Protecting religious exercise on religious land

Here, a federal court undermined the independent check that RLUIPA provides against local bureaucrats. Rather than independently review the denial of the Temple’s land-use permit, the lower court deferred to the local bureaucrats when reviewing whether their decision was fair. Given that unwarranted deference, it is no surprise that the Temple’s RLUIPA claims were dismissed.

In March 2020, Becket filed a brief in support of the Temple at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Representing Becket on the brief was the Stanford Law School Religious Liberty Clinic, including faculty members Prof. Jim Sonne and Zeba Huq, and students Claire Greenberg and Nathaniel Bernstein. Comprehensively laying out RLUIPA’s text, history, and structure, Becket’s brief confirms that the government bureaucrats cannot both decide whether the Spirit of Aloha Temple can use their land to hold wedding services and then have their findings blindly followed when facing judicial review. Concluding otherwise would undermine the careful balance that Congress sought to ensure for people of all faiths by passing RLUIPA.

On September 22, 2022, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Temple’s permit was allowed under RLUIPA.  

Importance to Religious Liberty:

  • Property rights—Practicing one’s faith almost always requires land use, but, unfortunately, this aspect of religious exercise is too often denied to groups who can’t afford to fight local zoning commissions or hostility. Becket fights to ensure the rights of minority faith groups to build houses of worship under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

Maxon v. Fuller Theological Seminary

Training ministers of the gospel

As one of the world’s leading Christian seminaries, Fuller Theological Seminary offers a vibrant multidenominational, multiethnic, and international Christian community where Christian students prepare to fulfill their vocations in a variety of ministry settings. For over 70 years, Fuller Theological Seminary has equipped Christian ministers and faith leaders through rigorous academic programs rooted deeply in Christian teaching, to answer God’s call to lead their own communities in the way of Jesus.

When students apply to Fuller Theological Seminary, they agree to adhere to a wide swath of biblically-based Christian ethics by giving written consent to abide by the seminary’s community standards as a continuing condition of enrollment. This collective agreement shapes the worldwide ethos of Fuller and includes upholding the belief that God created marriage to be the permanent covenant between only one man and one woman, and that sexual union must be reserved for that relationship. The seminary’s community standards are clear that students are to abstain from sexual conduct outside of this sacred marriage covenant.

The right to define ministry training

Joanna Maxon and Nathan Brittsan applied to Fuller Theological Seminary and agreed to Fuller’s community standards. Both individuals later admitted knowingly violating the standards by entering into same-sex marriages.

As with all students at Fuller, Ms. Maxon and Mr. Brittsan provided written consent to abide by the seminary’s community standards when they applied to the seminary, agreeing that they would follow them as a condition of participating in Fuller’s theological training with the rest of the student community. Their same-sex marriages were a direct and knowing violation of the standards to which they had agreed. Thus, after confirming the standards violations, Fuller regretfully dismissed them from the theology program and refunded their tuition for all classes that were left incomplete at the time of dismissal.

As a religious organization, Fuller Theological Seminary has the First Amendment right, and the religious duty, to uphold specific standards of ethics and morality for the members of its Christian community. This is a right that has been widely accepted and protected by courts for decades. Nevertheless, in November 2019, Ms. Maxon sued Fuller Theological Seminary in federal district court. Mr. Brittsan, who applied to Fuller but never matriculated, joined the lawsuit in January 2020.

Defending a healthy separation of church and state

Churches, seminaries, and other religious groups must be able to decide how to train their own religious leaders according to their own sincere determinations of their religious mission and the teachings of their faith. The government cannot entangle itself in these religious decisions by second-guessing or undermining how religious schools and organizations have decided to train their ministers and leaders. Permitting the government to force itself into the process of setting standards for scholars and ministers of faith is a clear violation of religious autonomy—a threat to the healthy separation of church and state.

The government cannot pressure religious groups into abandoning their beliefs. If Sikhs decide to abandon the turban and kirpan, Orthodox Jews choose to stop keeping Kosher, or Muslims want to reject wearing the hijab, then those must be decisions made freely by members of the faith—not under compulsion from lawsuits and courts. So too with Christian beliefs on the sacrament of marriage. Fuller filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ case in February 2020, and a hearing took place on August 4, 2020. On October 7, 2020, the federal district court dismissed the claims against Fuller, protecting the rights of religious educational institutions to uphold community standards. On November 3, 2020, Maxon and Brittsan appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

On December 13, 2021, the Ninth Circuit unanimously protected the right of Fuller Theological Seminary to freely direct its own religious community, a significant win for the rights of religious education institutions of all faiths.

Importance to Religious Liberty:

• Religious Communities—Religious groups must be able to select the members of their ministries according to their religious mission and sincere faith, free from government interference.
• Freedom of groups to train their own leaders—The Supreme Court’s decision in Hosanna-Tabor unanimously protected a church’s right to choose and maintain standards for its own leaders. That principle applies to the training of religious leaders as well. Both church and state are best served when the state isn’t controlling the internal leadership decisions of a religious institution.

Starkey v. Roncalli High School and Archdiocese of Indianapolis

Commitment to Catholic education

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has been committed to learning, teaching, and sharing the Catholic faith in central and southern Indiana for over 175 years. In addition to providing tens of millions of dollars in vital social services, the Archdiocese operates a number of schools that provide a safe, high-quality education to thousands of low-income Indiana students. The results speak for themselves, with over 90% of all graduates going on to college, far outstripping public schools.

While Catholic schools provide a top-notch education, their central purpose is to transmit the Catholic faith to the next generation. Thus, it is crucial that educators in Catholic schools—especially administrators, teachers, and guidance counselors—respect and promote the Church’s teachings. For this reason, all educators at Roncalli sign an agreement to uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church in both their professional and private lives—serving as examples of the faith to both the students and the community alike.

A conflict of commitment

As Co-Director of Guidance at Roncalli High School, Lynn Starkey was responsible for communicating the Catholic faith to students and families, and advising students both practically and spiritually as they discerned their vocational path at and after Roncalli. In August of 2018, Starkey told Roncalli leadership that she was in, and intended to remain in, a same-sex marriage in violation of her contract and of Catholic teaching. When the time came to renew her contract, her fellow school leaders explained that they could not do so while she was living in opposition to Catholic teaching. Ms. Starkey sued both the school and the Archdiocese arguing that they had discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation.

Educating hearts and minds

Catholic education is designed to holistically form the student in heart, mind, and body. Accordingly, Catholic educators and guidance professionals are expected to go beyond simply teaching algebra, or helping students fill out college applications. They are charged with modeling a Christ-centered life and promoting the teachings of the Catholic Church in word and deed—in short, they are ministers of the faith to their students. If an educator chooses to live in a manner which demonstrates disagreement with Church teaching, that educator cannot properly communicate the faith to his or her students.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants church schools like Roncalli the right to choose who teaches the faith to the next generation, free from government interference. The U.S. Supreme Court most recently articulated this doctrine, called the ministerial exception, in the unanimous 2012 decision Hosanna-Tabor, which protected a Lutheran church school’s right to choose its teachers. Becket is defending the school’s First Amendment right to choose faithful teachers under the ministerial exception.

Next Steps

After the lawsuit was filed, a federal district court ruled in favor of Roncalli and the Archdiocese, saying that when an employee is “tasked with guiding students as they mature and grow into adulthood,” “[o]ne may reasonably presume that a religious school would expect faith to play a role in that work.” Starkey appealed the lower court’s decision. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument on May 16, 2022. 

On July 28, 2022, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the ruling in favor of Roncalli and the Archdiocese. The court said Starkey “was entrusted with communicating the Catholic faith to the school’s students and guiding the school’s religious mission.” Thus, the Constitution protected the school’s right to choose who would carry out that role.

Roncalli High School and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis are also represented by Wooton Hoy LLC.

Importance to Religious Liberty:

  • Religious Communities— Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association.

Fitzgerald v. Roncalli High School and Archdiocese of Indianapolis

Commitment to Catholic education

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has been committed to learning, teaching, and sharing the Catholic faith in central and southern Indiana for over 175 years. In addition to providing tens of millions of dollars in vital social services, the Archdiocese operates a number of schools that provide a safe, high-quality education to thousands of low-income Indiana students. The results speak for themselves, with over 90% of all graduates going on to college, far outstripping public schools.

While Catholic schools provide a top-notch education, their central purpose is to transmit the Catholic faith to the next generation. Thus, it is crucial that educators in Catholic schools—especially administrators, teachers, and guidance counselors—respect and promote the Church’s teachings. For this reason, all educators at Roncalli sign an agreement to uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church in both their professional and private lives—serving as examples of the faith to both the students and the community alike.

A conflict of commitment

As Co-Director of Guidance at Roncalli High School, Shelly Fitzgerald was responsible for communicating the Catholic faith to students and families, and advising students both practically and spiritually as they discerned their vocational path at and after Roncalli. In August of 2018, Fitzgerald told Roncalli leadership that she was in, and intended to remain in, a same-sex marriage in violation of her contract and of Catholic teaching. When the time came to renew her contract, her fellow school leaders explained that they could not do so while she was living in opposition to Catholic teaching. Ms. Fitzgerald sued both the school and the Archdiocese, arguing that they had discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation.

Educating hearts and minds

Catholic education is designed to holistically form the student in heart, mind, and body. Accordingly, Catholic educators and guidance professionals are expected to go beyond simply teaching algebra, or helping students fill out college applications. They are charged with modeling a Christ-centered life and promoting the teachings of the Catholic Church in word and deed—in short, they are ministers of the faith to their students. If an educator chooses to live in a manner which demonstrates disagreement with Church teaching, that educator cannot properly communicate the faith to his or her students.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants church schools like Roncalli the right to choose who teaches the faith to the next generation, free from government interference, under a doctrine called the ministerial exception. The U.S. Supreme Court most recently articulated this doctrine in the unanimous 2012 decision Hosanna-Tabor, which protected a Lutheran church school’s right to choose its teachers. Becket is defending the church’s First Amendment right to choose faithful teachers under the ministerial exception.

On July 13, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in the case, protecting the school’s First Amendment right to make employment decisions that align with their religious mission. 

Roncalli High School and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis are also represented by Jay Mercer of Wooton Hoy, LLC. 

Importance to Religious Liberty:

  • Religious Communities— Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association.

 

New York v. HHS

A doctor’s mission: hope and healing for everyone

Dr. Regina Frost has practiced medicine for 15 years, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. She helps lead a network of female healthcare professionals called Women Physicians in Christ, a ministry of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) that is committed to supporting women physicians and dentists by integrating their personal, spiritual, and professional lives.  

CMDA is an organization of over 19,000 healthcare professionals, including Dr. Frost, who are committed to living out their faith in their practice of medicine. CMDA members serve everyone and seek to treat all of their patients like Christ would, providing all with compassionate care, healing, and hope. CMDA medical professionals take an oath to do no harm and would never deny routine or life-saving care to anyone. 

Their mission to heal takes CMDA doctors and nurses all over the globe. Within the U.S., CMDA members serve vulnerable populations including the homeless, prisoners living with HIV, and victims of opioid addiction, sex trafficking, and gang violence. Abroad, CMDA members serve in war zones, refugee clinics, and remote areas without quality healthcare. Several even contracted Ebola while providing treatment to patients during the deadly outbreak in Liberia. 

Religious healthcare professionals face an impossible choice  

Dr. Frost and other religious healthcare professionals are called to serve everyone with compassion. They only ask not to be forced to perform certain medical procedures that they believe would be inconsistent with their faith.  

In May 2019 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Conscience Rule, reinforcing an existing law which allows religious doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals to serve their patients without being forced to violate their conscience. Several states, including the State of New York, immediately sued to overturn that rule and are willing to drive religious healthcare professionals like Dr. Frost out of the medical field.  

No doctor should have to choose between giving up their faith and abandoning a vital medical mission. Indeed, recent polling from CMDA and USCCB confirms the importance of these conscience protections, both for religious healthcare professionals seeking to care for those most in need and for the clients they serve. But New York’s lawsuit needlessly threatens the health, safety, and lives of at-risk, underserved populations who voluntarily seek care from CMDA members across the nation and around the world. 

Becket defends religious healthcare professionals and the people they serve 

On June 25, 2019, Becket intervened to defend Dr. Frost and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations from New York’s lawsuit, arguing that healthcare professionals should not be forced to perform medical procedures that would require them to violate their beliefs. The Conscience Rule reaffirms what the First Amendment and dozens of federal statutes already guarantee: religious Americans—including doctors—do not have to compromise their faith to serve those in need. 

On November 6, 2019, a federal court ruled against the Conscience Rule, threatening the ability of religious doctors to serve communities without being forced to perform procedures against their beliefs. CMDA, Dr. Frost, and HHS appealed to the Second Circuit, and filed their opening briefs on April 27, 2020.

Dr. Frost’s participation in the case is solely in her personal capacity and not on behalf of her employer. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Individual Freedom—Religious freedom protects the rights of individuals to live out their faith in all facets of their lives—including in their professions. This lawsuit threatens the ability of religious healthcare professionals to provide quality, compassionate healthcare, forcing them to choose between their conscience and their practice.  

Patterson v. Walgreens

“In a sense attacking my faith and my ability to worship and putting my family’s livelihood at stake was a deeper attack than any that I’ve ever experienced. It was deeper than my race or color, it goes to the very core, my very soul of who I am.”—Darrell Patterson 

Work six days, rest the seventh  

Growing up as a black man in the pre-civil rights south made Darrell Patterson no stranger to discrimination and hostility. But nothing compares to the pain he experienced when he was forced to choose between his job and his Seventh-day Adventist faith.   

Since childhood, Mr. Patterson has felt called to a strong devotion to God. As an adult, Mr. Patterson demonstrated his faithfulness by abstaining from work on the Sabbath day, a practice that is important to people of many faiths—but particularly for Seventh-day Adventists, as indicated by their name. For Mr. Patterson this means retreating from the distractions of everyday life to spend time with family, serve his community and worship God. Whether he is at home singing hymns or ministering to at-risk youth or the homeless, Mr. Patterson is faithful every Sabbath day.   

In 2005, during his interview for a position at an Orlando Walgreens call center, Mr. Patterson made it clear that he wouldn’t be able to work from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, and he was hired without a problem. For several years, Mr. Patterson loved his job and enjoyed interacting with new hires. He saw his work as an extension of his ministry and treated his colleagues with compassion. He was always available to work all other days of the week, including Sundays, and his colleagues were always more than happy to switch shifts with him on the rare occasion he was scheduled to work on a Saturday.   

Employees shouldn’t be punished for their company’s mistakes  

In 2011, Mr. Patterson’s supervisors scheduled him to work on a Saturday for an extra training session after Walgreens executives made an error that broke Alabama’s pharmacy laws. The training was only two hours long and could have been done Friday, Sunday, or Monday, but Walgreens scheduled Mr. Patterson to do it on Saturday. Unable to work on a Saturday, Mr. Patterson followed protocol and attempted to switch schedules with a colleague, but because it was last minute, he was unsuccessful. Mr. Patterson conducted the training on Monday, ahead of the deadline. But Walgreens swiftly fired Mr. Patterson anyway.  

This attack on both his ability to worship and his family’s livelihood was unlike any other discrimination he had faced before. In 2014, Mr. Patterson sued Walgreens in Florida federal district court, which ruled in favor of Walgreens. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit also sided with the company. Both courts claimed that Walgreens had done enough to accommodate Mr. Patterson’s religious beliefs. In 2018, Mr. Patterson brought his case to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend his right to earn an honest livelihood while following his deeply held religious convictions.   

All Americans must be free to practice their faith in the workplace 

Keeping holy days like Christmas, Yom Kippur, or a Sabbath like Mr. Patterson’s is a core religious practice for Americans of many different faith backgrounds. But because of a mistake made by Walgreens executives, Mr. Patterson was forced to choose between providing for his family and practicing a central tenet of his faith—a decision no American should have to make. The Supreme Court should step in to protect Mr. Patterson’s rights and clarify that employers must reasonably accommodate sincere religious practice, just as they do other protected characteristics like disability.  

Along with its partners the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Gene Schaerr of Schaerr | Jaffe, Becket is defending Mr. Patterson and the right of Americans of all faiths to live and work according to their religious beliefs, including the fundamental practice of observing the Sabbath. The Supreme Court denied review in Patterson v. Walgreens on February 24, 2020.

Importance to religious liberty: 

  • Individual Freedom: Religious exercise encompasses more than just thought or worship—it involves visibly practicing the signs of one’s faith, at home and at work. All Americans must be free to live according to their consciences without fear of losing their jobs.