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August 18, 2021

Dear Friend,
As we all prepare for the fall in various ways, it’s important to look back at this spring and summer. Your Becket team has kept a consistent winning streak since January, kicking the year off with a victory protecting doctors from being forced to violate their religious beliefs. We won two more cases last week, but I will tell you about those in our next newsletter.
It was a blockbuster season for religious freedom at the Supreme Court. The Court held that government officials can be held liable <[link removed]> for violating religious freedom, and that lawsuits for free speech violations can’t be dismissed just because a free-speech-denying university does an about-face on its policy <[link removed]>. The Court also granted relief to churches <[link removed]> from New York Governor Cuomo’s and California Governor Newsom’s draconian prohibitions on in-person worship. And in a Becket case <[link removed]>, the Court sided 9-0 with Catholic foster moms and agencies in Philadelphia, allowing them to continue their crucial work providing for children in need of loving homes. This landmark decision will be remembered for its unanimity, its wide-reaching effects, and as a sign that the Court will likely soon be ready to address the bad precedents that have harmed religious freedom.
All of these victories sent a clear message: religion is an integral piece of American culture.
Why do Supreme Court victories matter so much? For the simple reason that they set the legal norm for the rest of the courts. On July 9, we saw this in action in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals with our win in Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish <[link removed]>. Nine years ago, in a Becket case, Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC <[link removed]>, the Supreme Court confirmed the principle of ministerial exception—the idea religious organizations have the right to choose their employees with important religious functions. Last year, the Supreme Court reinforced the same principle in another Becket victory, Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru <[link removed]>. The Seventh Circuit decision this summer, Demkovich , followed those precedents and applied them both sensibly and broadly, agreeing with Becket that the ministerial exception doesn’t only give organizations the right to select their ministerial employees but also the right to supervise them. This is an applause-worthy decision. Religious houses of worship, schools, and organizations must have freedom when it comes to choosing, training, and supervising their leaders and employees. It’s the only way they can hope to maintain their mission and beliefs.
The immediate effect on the lower courts, then, is the short reason that Supreme Court victories matter. But it is not the only one. In many ways, the law acts as teacher for society. Every one of Becket’s legal victories conveys the same guiding principles: religion is natural and essential to human culture, it belongs in the public square, and it should not be controlled or inhibited by the government. Each ruling in our favor reinforces these principles, getting us closer to our nation living up to its promised ideals.
What’s happening at Becket

Winning in Illinois. Our Demkovich win (mentioned above) is a big one. Read a great Twitter thread <[link removed]> on the decision by Becket’s Luke Goodrich.
Winning in Iowa. We have another win <[link removed]> in our case representing student group InterVarsity Christian Fellowship against the University of Iowa, after the school kicked religious groups off campus. After they lost in district court, the university appealed to the Eighth Circuit, which issued a resounding, unanimous ruling again in favor of the students. Turns out, when a university categorically kicks out only religious student groups with leadership requirements—allowing fraternities, sports teams, and other groups with similar requirements to keep their official status—it’s called “viewpoint discrimination.” Oh—and it’s unconstitutional.
Time to rethink the Roe / Casey framework. Becket submitted a friend-of-the-court brief <[link removed]> in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Our brief argues that the notoriously flawed jurisprudence in past abortion cases like Roe v. Wade has generated unnecessary First Amendment conflicts, particularly in the area of religious liberty, and that there is a better—and constitutional—way to approach these conflicts. I had my own explanation on Twitter <[link removed]> as well.
Becket in the news

“What the Supreme Court Did For Religion” (or, what Becket did at the Supreme Court). The New York Times’ Linda Greenhouse writes <[link removed]> about the Supreme Court’s record this term for religion—and mentions Becket by name five times.
“Fulton is a victory—and a sign of more to come.” Public Discourse runs an in-depth piece <[link removed]> on the impact Becket’s win at the Supreme Court is bound to have on future religious liberty cases.
“If one of us doesn’t have religious freedom, then none of us do.” Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas interviews <[link removed]> Becket’s Luke Goodrich about our cases defending Native Americans’ religious freedom.
What we’re reading (and watching):

“How Democrats Lost the Courts.” Emma Green’s piece <[link removed]> in The Atlantic highlights the contentious battles over judicial appointments and how those fighting the battles see their opponents.
“[R]easonable balancing is possible.” Law professor Richard Garnett explains <[link removed]> why the win in our Fulton case demonstrates “the art of cooperation.”
“Sometimes the best antidote to division is to be in the rooms where we find ourselves, fully present, engaging with those different from us as we all pursue the truth together.” Becket alum Asma Uddin writes <[link removed]> on her unique experience defending religious liberty for all.
Notre Dame’s Inaugural Religious Liberty Summit. The University of Notre Dame’s Religious Liberty Initiative hosted their inaugural Religious Liberty Summit at the end of June. See the breakdown of panel discussions, featuring church leaders, lawyers, and journalists, here <[link removed]>.

Gratefully,

Montse Alvarado
Executive Director



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