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Friend:
The shadow network. You heard us talk about it in the midst of our Supreme Court battles last term: the shadow network of religious extremist groups and their political allies who are behind so many attacks on church-state separation. They’ve had a billion-dollar war chest that funds their efforts to roll back abortion rights, LGBTQ equality, public education, progress toward racial justice and so many other rights and freedoms we hold dear.
Well, one of the most obscure organizations in that shadow network just received a $1.6 billion donation. One donation. The New York Times this week reported that a little-known conservative benefactor donated more than one-and-a-half-billion dollars to a murky, newish, dark-money group run by Leonard Leo—the architect of the Federalist Society’s strategy to create the current ultra-conservative bloc of Supreme Court justices. Leo is the man Justice Clarence Thomas referred to as “the No. 3 most powerful person in the world.”
Details are scant on the mission of Leo’s “Marble Freedom Trust,” but the Times noted that groups affiliated with Leo in the past two years have spent money on fights to restrict abortion access, confirm conservative judges to the federal courts and erect hurdles to voting access. Leo-linked groups spent $540 million packing the Supreme Court between 2014 and 2020. This latest donation to Leo’s crusade is thought to be the biggest single donation to a political nonprofit—ever.
This news drives home the challenge before us. Americans United is planning a campaign to launch a national recommitment to the separation of church and state. For too long, Americans have taken for granted this foundational principle that is the keystone to protecting freedom and equality for all of us.
And much as Leo did at the Federalist Society, WE need to build toward the future—equipping the leaders who will drive AU and our allies’ work forward. That’s why we are dedicated to youth outreach and leadership efforts like the new Legal Academy, our Youth Organizing Fellowship program and next year’s Summit for Religious Freedom.
To highlight our commitment to our mission, this summer we launched the Next Generation Fund—an initiative focused on building a new generation of lawyers, advocates and policymakers who will fight to advance and protect the separation of church and state for years to come. Through a gracious matching gift from Barbara Meislin, any gift to this campaign from now to the end of the year will be matched up to $250,000. To read more about these initiatives and to support the Next Generation Fund, click here.
Our fight won’t be easy. Or fast. Or cheap. But it isn't a fight we can afford to shy away from. And to win, we will need you by our side—supporting us, sharing our message and helping us grow the AU network. AU will never stop fighting for everyone’s right to live as themselves and believe, or not, as they choose—just as we’ve done for the past 75 years.
With hope and determination,
Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO
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