Friends,

We’re in the final countdown to Christmas – a season that’s supposed to be full of joy, love, and peace. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of Scrooges out there who disagree. Every year, Becket gives our Ebenezer Award to the most outrageous offender of the Christmas and Hanukkah season. The 2023 winner is California Governor Gavin Newsom, who canceled the state’s annual in-person Christmas tree lighting and skipped the menorah lighting traditionally attended by the governor over fears that anti-Israel protestors would cause disruption.

Instead of allowing Californians to celebrate at the capital with planned festivities including a Christmas market and live music, Governor Newsom changed the tree-lighting to a virtual event streamed over his social media accounts with only his family and a few guests present. In canceling one of California’s most cherished holiday traditions and skipping another, Newsom can rightly be dubbed the “Governor who stole Christmas and Hanukkah.” Here’s hoping his heart grows three sizes by next year!

As a heartwarming antidote to the season’s Grinches, Becket also gives an Eggnog Toast to those who have shown persistence in the face of adversity during the holiday season. This year, we salute Chabad Williamsburg and Rabbi Herber for putting on a menorah lighting ceremony, after a Virginia non-profit refused to host it because of the Israel-Hamas war. In response, Chabad Williamsburg, a Jewish outreach organization, and Rabbi Herber invited the community to celebrate at their own ceremony. More than 250 people attended in a wonderful display of support!

I hope your holidays are time of joy and hope, free from Scrooges and Grinches. From all of us at Becket, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year!

What's happening at Becket

Defending parental rights. Earlier this month, we argued at the Fourth Circuit on behalf of a coalition of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian parents who are seeking to restore notice and opt-out rights for storybooks being read to their children that promote one-sided ideology on gender and sexuality. After a Maryland school board introduced this controversial curriculum and denied parents the right to opt out or even be notified, this diverse group of parents banded together to fight for their ability to raise their children consistent with their faith. You can listen to the argument here.

Do constitutional rights need permission slips? Michigan recently revised its civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity, while refusing all religious accommodations. This effectively makes it illegal for religious organizations like our client, St. Joseph Parish, to hire staff who agree to uphold their religious beliefs or maintain a church and school environment that reflects their faith. According to the state, St. Joseph needs to ask permission from the Civil Rights Commission whenever it wants to ask Catholic employees to uphold Catholic teaching, and the parish is now at risk of lawsuits simply for following its faith. We asked a federal appeals court to protect St. Joseph’s right to run its church and school community in accordance with its religious beliefs.

Keeping the government out of religious disputes. Moody Bible Institute, a historic college and seminary that trains students for ministry, is being sued by a former faculty member who disagrees with its religious beliefs about who should be clergy. We appeared before the Seventh Circuit to defend Moody’s right to determine its own religious doctrine and train students for Christian leadership free from government interference. A recording of the argument is available here.

Becket in the news

“This law was passed for the sole purpose of preventing a woman who has taken mifepristone and regretted it from trying to save her baby’s life.” First Things features our Bella Health case, in which a Catholic medical clinic is standing up against a Colorado law that bans helping women who regret taking the abortion pill and even forbids letting women know they have options.

Victory for life and privacy. Last month, we won on behalf of the Sisters of Life, a community of religious sisters, after New York targeted their pro-life ministry for investigation, demanding they hand over their most sensitive internal documents. Sister Maris Stella and I went on the Daily Signal podcast to discuss the victory.

Fighting for its mission. Becket senior counsel Will Haun appeared on EWTN News Nightly to give an update on our St. Joseph case defending the right of faith-based institutions to maintain their religious identity.

What we’re reading (and listening to)

Not always all or nothing. "Religious freedom protections should be flexible enough to accommodate religious practice even when the remedy isn’t a perfect solution.” Our friends at Harvard Law’s Religious Freedom Clinic published a piece examining our recent victory on behalf of a Native American sacred site.

The state of religious freedom today. I was interviewed on the Bradley Foundation’s Voices of Freedom podcast, discussing the current state of religious freedom and why it’s one of our most important rights.

The tragic case of Indi Gregory. In an egregious violation of parental and medical rights, Britain’s NHS refused to allow a baby girl’s parents to take her to Italy for free medical treatment, instead forcing them to watch her die. I wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Indi’s story, which is sadly just one in a series of cases where patients had their freedom to seek treatment stripped away by the state.