July 8, 2020 will go down in history as the day the Supreme Court protected religious schools and religious ministries! With Independence Day fresh in our hearts, freedom’s bells reverberated with two—yes, TWO—big Becket wins at the Supreme Court in the same day.

In Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru, the Court ruled 7-2 that religious schools must be free to choose those who teach their religion, with Justice Alito writing that educating young people in faith “[lies] at the very core of the mission.” In Little Sisters of the Poor v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania—a case that should have been open and shut a decade ago—the Court, again in a 7-2 decision, roundly affirmed the religious exemption from a federal contraceptive mandate for religious groups like the Little Sisters. Justice Thomas wrote warmly of the Little Sisters in the opinion of the Court: “For over 150 years, the Little Sisters have engaged in faithful service and sacrifice, motivated by a religious calling to surrender all for the sake of their brother.” Finally, with the Court’s decision, the Little Sisters are again free to continue to do just that —though, shockingly, politicians in PA are already saber-rattling about coming after the Sisters yet again.

Two Supreme Court wins in a day is extraordinarily unusual for even big law firms, so it’s even more remarkable for a small team like ours fighting for freedom. Add these wins to the final blow the Supreme Court dealt to anti-Catholic Blaine Amendments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, and you get a blockbuster summer for religious freedom. When was the last time religious liberty won this big? But if you look at the way the Court has treated religious liberty over the past 10 years , it makes sense. In that time, the Court has issued rulings for 15 religious liberty cases—all of them victories for religious liberty, and four of them unanimous victories. And a whopping seven of those have been Becket cases. The recent ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County highlights why these religious liberty victories are important. We need protections for religious freedom now more than ever. Even in that controversial decision, we take heart in how the Court doubled down not only on the importance of RFRA (an area of Becket expertise) and religious exemptions, but on the value of “preserving the promise of the free exercise of religion enshrined in our Constitution; that guarantee lies at the heart of our pluralistic society.”

So what’s left for us to do? We are not about to rest on our laurels. Along with the many cases we have in federal courts around the country, we are ramping up to defend religious liberty at the Supreme Court once again with our faith-based adoption agency case, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. But as we all forge ahead and continue in this fight, please take this moment with us to celebrate the victories, too.

What’s happening at Becket

Hear all about it! What’s happening at Becket? Oh, just a couple of major Supreme Court victories. Listen to Becket’s press call on this week’s rulings here.

But wait, there’s more! So what was the last loss for religious liberty at SCOTUS? CLS v. Martinez, where a 5-4 Court ruled in 2010 against religious freedom on campus. And that case’s days are numbered, with three Becket cases on behalf of religious student groups working their way up through federal appeals and district courts.

Becket in the news

See Sister Constance on FOX News. Sister Constance appeared on FOX News to talk about how the Little Sisters of the Poor kept their faith during their lengthy court battle to gain a religious exemption from the federal contraceptive mandate.

...and then I got to join her! It has been a great honor and privilege to work with the Little Sisters, and with Sister Constance in particular, over the last several years. We appeared together on Fox & Friends to talk about their hard-earned Supreme Court victory. As Sister Constance said, “God has protected the Little Sisters.”

Blaine Amendments are dead—long live Religious Freedom! Becket attorney Eric Rassbach writes in Real Clear Religion: Last week, In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the Supreme Court consigned anti-religion laws known as Blaine Amendments to the ash-heap of history. What’s more, it said that laws targeting religious people—of any sort—are illegal. That is good news for all Americans, religious and not.

What we’re reading

In her own words: “The elderly deserve to be supported by the love of those who see the value of their life from beginning to end.” It’s no secret that we love the Little Sisters of the Poor at Becket. Mother Loraine is one of the many reasons. Here’s the heart and history of the Little Sisters’ work, and why their court win is so important for the vulnerable, straight from Mother Loraine.

Protecting pluralism, not politics. The New York Times runs Stanford Law Professor Michael McConnell’s thoughtful assessment of the way the Supreme Court deals with hot button culture issues. Instead of veering “left“ or “right,” McConnell argues, the Court has instead protected pluralism, or “the right of individuals and institutions to be different, to teach different doctrines, to dissent from dominant cultural norms and to practice what they preach.”

Where will it go from here? The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board applauds the Court’s rulings in our cases this week, while suggesting what political impact they could have in the near future.

"Banning sailors from a spiritual port in the storm is not only illegal and discriminatory, it’s wrong." Becket’s Daniel Blomberg tweets about the Navy’s new order on worship services. Contrary to a prior rule, the Navy will now allow service members to attend indoor religious services—a win for religious freedom.