<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Support Becket<[link removed]>
Image showing student athletes with FCA logo<[link removed]>
July 25, 2024
Friends,
The US District Court for the District of Columbia has just handed the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes<[link removed]> (FCA) a historic victory after a public high school stripped FCA of official recognition because it requires leaders to adhere to its traditional Christian beliefs. DC Public Schools allow other groups to select leaders based on criteria such as racial identity or political beliefs. Becket filed suit for FCA, arguing that the Constitution requires that religious groups like FCA have the same right to protect and advance their missions. This follows a similar Becket win for another FCA “huddle” in San Jose, CA, where a special “en banc” panel of eleven judges on the Ninth Circuit ruled that public schools in San Jose unlawfully penalized FCA for similar leadership requirements. This case is the first time that a federal court has found a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in the school context, and marks an important step in narrowing the Supreme Court’s decision in CLS v. Martinez, which permitted schools to bar religious student groups from selecting leaders who share their faith.
What's happening at Becket
Antisemitism on campus. Last month we filed
a federal lawsuit<[link removed]> against the University of California, Los Angeles, on behalf of three Jewish students who were barred from accessing the heart of their campus. UCLA allowed and assisted antisemitic activists in setting up an encampment that used checkpoints, issued wristbands, built barriers, and often locked arms to prevent Jews from passing through while facing them with chants such as “slaughter the Jews.” They even intimidated students with physical violence – in one case, giving a Jewish student a concussion. For a week, UCLA’s administration was aware of these practices and chose to let them persist. This kind of segregation is a profound and illegal failure of leadership. No student should have to fear for their safety or pass a religious test to walk freely at a public university. Our clients need relief before class begins, and we’re asking for a preliminary injunction. Read more about the urgency behind our filing
here<[link removed]>.
We’re fighting for counselors of faith to be able to continue offering evidence-based counseling according to their traditional beliefs without discrimination to children who need compassionate counseling. In
Catholic Charities v. Whitmer<[link removed]>, Becket represents counselors who are barred from providing compassionate, professional help according to their conscience and the best scientific evidence by a new Michigan law which bans counselors from helping children talk through the underlying causes of their gender confusion. Instead, the law requires counselors to provide gender-affirming care, which ultimately pushes children toward puberty blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries designed to make their bodies resemble the opposite sex. The harms to these interventions are so significant that 25 states have banned or strictly limited gender transitions for children, recommending instead that children receive compassionate counseling to help address the underlying causes of their distress.
…and defending couples who want to provide children with a home. In Massachusetts, we march ahead for
Mike and Kitty Burke<[link removed]>, a loving Catholic couple hoping to foster children. In the midst of a foster care resource shortage, the Burkes are an ideal foster family. The Burkes would love and accept any child regardless of the child’s future sexual orientation or struggles with gender identity but were rejected because they would not renounce their religious beliefs about marriage and sexuality. Massachusetts wants this case to go away, but the court just denied the state’s motion to partially dismiss the case, and said that the officials we are suing do not have qualified immunity – because of the precedent set in our unanimous Supreme Court win in
Fulton<[link removed]>. Onward for the Burkes and other religious foster parents!
In the meantime, if you want to hear more about what the Fulton case was about, listen to “
Free to Foster<[link removed]>” on Stream of Conscience.
In
St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy<[link removed]>, a federal judge in Denver granted the Archdiocese of Denver and parents who are barred from Colorado’s universal pre-K program due to their Catholic beliefs a partial victory. The court affirmed that Catholic preschools remain free to hire those who share their faith and to control their own curriculums. The court also agreed with Becket's argument that Catholic preschools must be free to consider a family's religious affiliation in the admission process, ensuring that Catholic preschools can fulfill their religious mission of helping Catholic families raise and educate their children in the faith. The court, however, found that Colorado could punish the Archdiocesan preschools for upholding Catholic teaching on marriage and the family. Becket will be appealing this portion of the court's decision.
What we’re reading (and watching)
More on defeating bad precedents. Want to know more about what our FCA cases have to do with prior Supreme Court precedent?
FIRE has an explanation<[link removed]>.
Clarifying the Establishment Clause. Law professors Nathan Chapman and Michael McConnell, recipient of Becket’s Canterbury Medal in 2023, have published Agreeing to Disagree: How the Establishment Clause Protects Religious Diversity and Freedom of Conscience. Read Becket Counsel Nick Reaves' and Benjamin Sanford’s
book review<[link removed]> at The Independent Institute
Respect for parental rights. Becket VP and Senior Counsel Eric Baxter
appeared on FOX<[link removed]> about our Montgomery County, MD case on behalf of Muslim and Catholic parents who don’t want their three and four-year-olds doing things in schools such as search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “underwear,” “leather," and the name of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker.
Chevron overturned. What do fishermen have to do with religious liberty? A lot, it turns out,
as this article explains<[link removed]>. Read more about how this affects the Little Sisters
here<[link removed]>.
"These episodes may sound like they come from Germany in the 1930s, but they don’t." This month I also
had the honor of testifying<[link removed]> before the House’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections at a hearing on antisemitism in higher education. My testimony starts at minute 29.
Finally, thanks to all who came out and supported us at our 30th anniversary celebration in New York City this year. The Canterbury Gala is always a special gathering of friends, and this year we were honored to have 2018 Canterbury medalist Rabbi Meir Soloveichik
give anniversary remarks<[link removed]>. His timeless
2018 speech<[link removed]> is worth another listen.
Everything we do, we do together!
<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Mark Rienzi
President & CEO
<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Unsubscribe<[link removed]>
The Becket Fund<[link removed]>
1919 Pennsylvania Ave NW Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20006
<[link removed]>
