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November 28, 2023
Friends,
Every year, Thanksgiving provides an opportunity to reflect on our blessings. And this particular November, we have something to be especially grateful for: three decades of the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act<[link removed]>. RFRA is a bipartisan bill designed to ensure that all Americans have the right to live out their faith. Since its enactment, RFRA has protected the ability of people of diverse faiths to practice their religious beliefs in peace.
In 1993, the Supreme Court cut back long-standing protections for religious Americans in a case called Employment Division v. Smith. A diverse coalition of elected officials, scholars, and advocacy groups soon united to restore broader protections for religious freedom, especially for unpopular and minority faiths, through the passage of RFRA.
What’s remarkable was the overwhelming support from all sides of the religious and political spectrum. RFRA was supported by 66 religious and civil liberties groups, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Humanists, and secular civil liberties organizations like the ACLU. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, Becket’s 2021 Canterbury Medalist, championed the bill in the Senate alongside Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy. Congress passed it with near unanimous support. President Bill Clinton signed it into law, later saying this was the proudest moment of his first term. It’s hard to imagine such unity in today’s polarized world!
For 30 years, RFRA has been a bedrock protection for people of all faiths to live out their beliefs freely. It provides a balanced and workable test: if the government attempts to restrict religious practices, it must show that it has no better alternative to accomplish a compelling government interest. RFRA has protected Becket clients like
Lipan Apache Pastor Robert Soto<[link removed]>, who can now freely use eagle feathers in Native American religious ceremonies;
Army Major Simratpal Singh<[link removed]>, who can practice his Sikh faith while serving his country; and the
Little Sisters of the Poor<[link removed]>, who can continue serving the elderly poor without violating their Catholic beliefs.
In celebration of its 30th anniversary, we created this
short video<[link removed]>. If you’d like to learn more, please check out our
explainer video<[link removed]> as well as our
RFRA Info Central<[link removed]>. And if you prefer listening, we also have a
podcast episode<[link removed]> all about RFRA!
P.S. Today is
#GivingTuesday<[link removed]>, a day which gives us a chance to give back after the gratitude of Thanksgiving. While RFRA (and our nation’s core First Amendment principles) have helped us win many important victories for religious freedom, we still have much more to do. Our team is hard at work with litigation matters including protecting parental rights, medical conscience, the autonomy of religious schools and institutions, and many other issues. None of our efforts would be possible without our faithful donors, and we are deeply grateful for your generosity.
If you’ve been considering supporting us, now is a golden opportunity: two generous supporters have offered a match challenge totaling $275,000 for gifts received through December. This means any gift you make before the end of December will be doubled! Whether you’re already a loyal supporter or you’ve just been following our work, please consider
joining the fight<[link removed]> to protect religious freedom for all this #GivingTuesday!
What's happening at Becket
New York backs down. The
Sisters of Life<[link removed]> are a community of religious sisters dedicated to helping women facing crisis pregnancies with emotional, material, and spiritual support before and after they give birth. In 2022, New York passed a law targeting pregnancy centers for government investigation, demanding that the Sisters hand over their most sensitive internal documents – including private information about the women who come to them for help. This month, New York agreed to a
court order<[link removed]> forbidding them from requiring this information or punishing the Sisters for refusing to provide it. The Sisters are now free to focus on their important work serving the women who need them. For more on the victory, read this poignant
op-ed<[link removed]> by one of our clients, Sister Maris Stella.
College credit for all. Earlier this year, Minnesota decided to shut out faith-based universities from the state’s nearly 40-year-old program offering free college credit to high school students. Becket sued on behalf of
religious parents and two religious schools<[link removed]>, and we appeared in federal court this month to defend their right to participate in the program free from religious discrimination.
Equal access for special education. We
appealed<[link removed]> to the Ninth Circuit on behalf of a group of
Orthodox Jewish families and schools<[link removed]> in California. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides special education funds for children with disabilities which can be used at either public or private schools. However, California has prohibited government funding to flow to religious schools, even when those schools can best meet a child’s needs. We are asking the court to stop the state from punishing families and schools simply for being religious and allow parents the freedom to choose the best education for their children.
Becket in the news
RFRA proves religious liberty’s value. “Better religious freedom protections aren’t just good for the people who get to use them — although my clients are certainly grateful for them. They are good for us as a nation, where we learn to live and work side-by-side with people of different faiths.” Becket VP and senior counsel Lori Windham
wrote a piece<[link removed]> for The Hill explaining how RFRA has not resulted in “anarchy” as some predicted, but instead strengthened freedom for everyone to live out their different beliefs.
A lesson on how Americans can live in peace. In our divided times, RFRA provides an example of how to respect and accommodate each other’s differences, even when we disagree. National Review
features my article<[link removed]> on what we can conclude from 30 years of RFRA.
Justice after 15 years. Last month, we won a landmark settlement in our longest-running case when the federal government agreed to restore a
Native American sacred site<[link removed]> it had needlessly bulldozed. Our client Carol Logan, a spiritual practitioner of the Clackamas and Kalapuya Tribe,
penned a piece<[link removed]> about the victory.
What we’re reading (and listening to)
RFRA’s legacy and enduring significance. The Orrin G. Hatch Foundation hosted a virtual event celebrating RFRA’s anniversary.
Watch their webinar<[link removed]> with religious liberty experts including Becket VP and senior counsel Eric Baxter reflecting on RFRA’s bipartisan beginnings, its success, and lasting importance in protecting our religious liberty.
“Every good citizen should come to understand religious liberty.” Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation,
interviewed me<[link removed]> about why religious liberty is critical to the American experiment, civil society, and peace.
Religious liberty in academia. Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative hosted the
Law & Religion Junior Faculty Conference<[link removed]> in Chicago. The Initiative’s faculty director and former Becket counsel Stephanie Barclay hosted the conference, and Becket senior law fellow Angela Wu Howard was among the junior scholar winners!
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