Friend,

AU never expected to be defending religious freedom amid a global pandemic. Nevertheless, when COVID-19 struck, AU’s lawyers and advocates sprang into action to defend the Constitution against attempts to jeopardize public safety by exempting houses of worship from temporary rules prohibiting large gatherings.

Today I want to share a recap of some of what we did to protect religious freedom during the coronavirus pandemic. Before I do, let me say this:

We can’t always know what new threats are coming, but with generous support from people like you, we can still be prepared to respond at a moment’s notice.

You can help us replenish our rapid-response resources for the challenges ahead by clicking here to donate $50 to AU today: [link removed]

AU has filed 48 friend-of-the-court briefs in court cases across the country, including six in the U.S. Supreme Court. We've urged judges in cases from California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas and Virginia not to grant demands for religious exemptions from public health orders.

Thanks in part to those efforts, at least 30 court decisions protected religious freedom and public health by refusing to grant religious exemptions for in-person worship services. And while the Supreme Court did an about-face and issued several rulings requiring religious exemptions after Amy Coney Barrett replaced the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, our work in this area before then was mostly successful, and our more recent work has strategically focused on limiting the scope of the Supreme Court’s recent disturbing rulings.

You made this work possible, and we’re counting on you to keep AU ready to face future threats to religious freedom. Click here to donate $50 now: [link removed]

Friend, this is also a personal milestone for me. Next week marks my one-year anniversary as AU’s Vice President of Strategic Communications – a year in which I’ve never met our CEO Rachel Laser or dozens of my colleagues face to face. (973,526 Zoom meetings don’t count.)

During that time I’ve been profoundly moved by two things: The AU team’s tenacity in the face of overwhelming challenges, and our supporters’ unshakable determination to help protect religious freedom no matter what.

The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on everyone. I lost my parents last December to Covid, and became one of the millions of Americans who are grieving. But we will come out on the other side, and when we do, we will know that we did all that we could to defend religious freedom, equality and democracy. America’s fundamental principle of church-state separation will still be intact.

That’s thanks to generous supporters like you, and all the work that you’ve made possible. It’s an honor to work here.

In appreciation,

Naomi Paiss
VP of Strategic Communications

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Americans United for Separation of Church and State
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