News from the Week Aug. 15 - Aug. 19, 2022
Friend:
Prepping and winning. That was our week at AU. The Supreme Court term ended with a series of devastating decisions handed down by the court’s ultra-conservative bloc in June, but we’re already preparing for the next term, which begins in October.
This fall, the Court will hear a case called 303 Creative v. Elenis, which involves a Colorado business whose owner wants free speech and religious freedom exemptions from the state’s anti-discrimination law so they can discriminate against LGBTQ people. Sound familiar? It’s the infamous Masterpiece Cakeshop case all over again, with the same Christian Nationalist hate group, Alliance Defending Freedom, behind it. What’s the biggest difference? The Court itself. Justices Barrett and Kavanaugh have replaced Justices Ginsburg and Kennedy. Also, unlike in Masterpiece, this business doesn’t yet have any same-sex customers to turn away; it’s seeking the right to refuse to serve hypothetical same-sex couples in the future. And here, the court only agreed to hear the free speech argument, though norms and rules don’t seem to mean much to the ultra-conservative bloc.
Yesterday, Americans United joined our allies in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, urging the Court not to grant this exemption. Our powerful brief explains how the business’s request for a speech-based exemption would lead to the very discrimination these laws are meant to protect against, especially for people from minority faiths. Our country’s foundational principle of church-state separation demands that the Court reject this misuse of religious freedom and protect the right of all of us to be treated equally under the law. Read the brief here: [link removed]
Even though we’re facing a Supreme Court majority that’s aggressively hostile to church-state separation, we’re still winning in lower courts. This week, the Second Circuit held that churches are not above the law. Our client Father Alexander Belya sued his old church and a few of his former colleagues for defamation. Alarmingly, the church officials argued that simply because they were all colleagues in the same church, the court couldn’t even hear the defamation case. If the court had agreed with the church officials, it would have had disastrous and far-reaching impact for anyone trying to hold a church or religious organization accountable in a court of law. That’s why AU’s legal team stepped in to work on this case. And, this week, we won. The court rejected that argument. Read more about our victory here: [link removed]
Equal justice under law. The freedom to live as ourselves and believe, or not, as we choose. These are pillars of democracy. That’s what Americans United has fought for over the last 75 years. With your support, that’s what we’ll keep fighting for.
With hope and determination,
Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO
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How Culture And A Legacy Of Colonialism Limit Reproductive Rights In America’s Furthest Territories:
Long before the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision, people in the Pacific territories of the U.S.—Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands—have faced unique obstacles that affect their access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care.
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The Attack On Salman Rushdie Is Also An Attack On Free Speech. Both Must Be Condemned.:
The attack on author Salman Rushdie hit close to home for AU VP of Strategic Communications Andrew L. Seidel, who has met Rushdie and has faced death threats in response to his own writings. He reflects on the dangers Christian nationalism and religious extremism pose to a host of freedoms that Americans United fights for and holds dear.
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Residents In A Michigan Town Voted To Defund Their Public Library. These Creationists Couldn’t Be Happier.:
The decision by Jamestown Township residents to defund their public library rather than tolerate a small number of LGBTQ-themed books is being celebrated by the Christian nationalists at Answers in Genesis, a fundamentalist ministry that seeks to undermine the teaching of evolution in public schools by promoting youth-earth creationism.
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The FBI Searched Mar-a-Lago, And Christian Nationalists Are Furious:
In response to the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Christian nationalist groups are twisting themselves into knots to excuse any behavior by Trump, whom they worship with a fervor that they rarely extend to the actual founder of their faith.
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Get Involved—Check Out AU’s Upcoming Events:
Find additional details and a full list of events at [link removed]
Aug. 20, 7 p.m. ET (Virtual): Eddie Tabash, a constitutional lawyer who serves on AU’s Board of Trustees and the Center for Inquiry’s Board of Directors, will discuss the recent Supreme Court cases that damaged church-state separation. Presented by AU’s Orange County, Calif., Chapter. Sign up here: [link removed]
Sept. 21, 8 p.m. ET (Virtual): “Voter Suppression: Christian Nationalism's Attempts to Control Who Votes,” featuring AU VP of Strategic Communications Andrew L. Seidel and journalist Sarah Posner. Presented by AU’s Greater Houston Chapter. Sign up here: [link removed]
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