Dear Friend,

January ended on a high note for Becket—we secured two important victories, one for foster and adoptive parents in Michigan and one for an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Florida. Both cases stood on a foundational principle that has always been fundamental to Becket’s strategy and approach: religion belongs in the public square.

In Michigan, we represented Melissa and Chad Buck, parents to five children adopted through St. Vincent Catholic Charities. Several years ago, the ACLU sued the state for partnering with St. Vincent, an agency that operates according to its Catholic beliefs. At stake was not just a longstanding, socially-valuable partnership between St. Vincent and the state, but the status of families—like Melissa and Chad Buck's— who relied on support from St. Vincent to form their family. In the end, the state had to admit that refusing to work with St. Vincent and other religious agencies was unconstitutional. The state’s admission was a direct result of Becket’s unanimous Supreme Court win in Fulton, where the Justices agreed that the City of Philadelphia could not end its contract with a Catholic foster agency because of the ministry’s religious beliefs.

Meanwhile, down in sunny Florida, we won a victory for Young Israel of Tampa, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue. A year ago, the public transit authority in Tampa prevented Young Israel from advertising “Chanukah on Ice,” an open event featuring ice skating and music around a Menorah. To the government, religious ads should be prohibited—just like, as Young Israel was told, ads for alcohol, tobacco, and pornography. Not content to lump religion in with vice, the government went further. It told Young Israel that a “Chanukah on Ice” ad could run if the government’s “suggested edits” were taken. Those “suggested edits” were of one kind: censoring out all references to the Menorah. Just a few weeks ago, the federal court in Tampa agreed with Becket that banning religious ads is viewpoint discrimination and that this ban should never be enforced again. In other words, as Becket has long argued, religious words and imagery should not be scrubbed from the public square.

Religious liberty cases build on each other. The Michigan win is a textbook example. We can draw a direct line from our Supreme Court win to a successful settlement in a state case. Remaining focused on our mission and our approach enables us to set lasting precedent, and it is rewarding to see that play out in victories like these.

What’s happening at Becket

“Lower courts and government officials…seem to have a shag-carpet understanding of the Establishment Clause: one that is stuck in the 1970s and has not been updated since.”  On January 18^th the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case about whether, by allowing Christians to take part in a public forum alongside secular interest groups, the City of Boston is unconstitutionally endorsing Christianity. During argument, Justice Kavanaugh cited our brief, which seeks to clarify a widespread misunderstanding about the Establishment Clause. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer breaks down the case and shouts out Becket’s contribution in the National Catholic Register.  

Fulton “aftershocks”. Less than a year after Becket’s unanimous victory in defense of faith-based foster care in Philadelphia, the Supreme Court’s ruling is already proving instrumental to the protection of religious agencies across the country. Earlier this month, Chad and Melissa Buck—adoptive parents to 5, going on 6—finally got their chance to celebrate after their protracted legal battle came to a close when Michigan finally admitted its constitutional obligation to work their foster care agency, St. Vincent Catholic Charities. Kelsey Dallas of Deseret News with the story.

What we’re waiting for... Any day now, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is expected to rule on a case from Chile about whether a schoolteacher who entered a same-sex marriage in violation of Catholic canon law should be able to continue teaching the Catholic faith without certification from her local diocese. It’s not often that Becket gets involved in international religious freedom disputes, but this case presents a great opportunity to build on our win in Our Lady of Guadalupe to reinforce the fundamental right of religious groups to direct the inculcation of faith.

Becket in the news

Religion Matters in Public Life. Becket’s President, Mark Rienzi, wrote for National Review on Martin Luther King, Jr. day, urging readers to embrace Reverend King’s commitment to rising above division and toxicity and instead see the humanity in our ideological opponents. Mark reminds us that we would be wise to remember that Reverend King’s message and approach were religiously rooted. He was a living example that religion is not only compatible with public life, it is a valuable tool for bridging the divides that arise from civil disagreement.

Sour Lemons. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Becket counsel Will Haun explains how an infamous 1970s Supreme Court precedent, Lemon v. Kurtzman, soured American law’s traditional embrace of vibrant religious expression in public life. No, the Constitution doesn’t require governments to censor religious symbolism out of the public square. Hopefully, the Court’s opinion in Shurtleff v. City of Boston will bring some much-needed clarity.

Unpacking America attitudes towards religious freedom. Our friends at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission published an explainer last week, breaking down the findings and methodology of our annual Religious Freedom Index. If you haven’t had a chance to explore the 2021 Index results yet, you may find this to be a helpful tool for understanding the main take-aways.

What we’re reading

Why Roe v. Wade hasn’t advanced women’s interests. Becket’s Angela Wu Howard lays out the case for why the notorious Supreme Court decision on abortion in fact hasn’t advanced women’s interests in the long-term, and why she personally believes what she does on the issue.

“The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision last year was clear.” Read another account of the importance of Becket’s win in our Michigan foster and adoption case, featuring heroic parents Melissa and Chad Buck.

Religious liberty cases at Supreme Court: an indicator of judicial fitness? Robert Barnes of the Washington Post writes up how a religious liberty case—specifically, Becket’s landmark 2012 Supreme Court win in Hosanna-Tabor—might prove to be a decisive factor in appointing a new Supreme Court Justice. In honor of Hosanna-Tabor's 10^th anniversary, which was in January, it’s high time to revisit the story of the case. Listen to our podcast episode on it here.

Final podcast episode of Stream of Conscience Season 2: Helping the homeless in Ventura, CA. Our last episode of our second season, this one takes us to the Golden State, where a church pastor was told he had to abruptly end his ministry to the homeless. Who did he turn to? The students at the Stanford Law School Religious Liberty Clinic.