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March 7, 2023
Dear Friend,
I am writing today with bittersweet news to share with you. My Catholic friends may have already caught wind that I have
accepted a new role<[link removed]> as president of the global news division of the Eternal World Television Network, or EWTN News, starting this week.
Launched by an intrepid nun from a garage in 1981, EWTN has grown into the largest Catholic media entity in the world, with 11 global TV channels broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to more than 350 million television households in over 145 countries and territories. EWTN is also a
former Becket client<[link removed]>. We represented the news organization in its fight against the HHS Contraceptive Mandate of 2011 and
won big<[link removed]> at the Eleventh Circuit seven years later.
Making the decision to leave Becket was hard. Who would leave a winning team right before the playoffs?! But it’s a choice I’ve made after significant prayer, discernment, and reflection on my 14 years with the organization. In that time we’ve secured over a dozen Supreme Court victories, added research, government affairs and communications teams, and made significant strides towards the restoration of religious freedom for all.
I leave Becket in the capable hands of our dedicated board led by Bill Mumma and our brilliant president and CEO, Mark Rienzi. I am 100% confident in the team's ability to move from strength to strength. You know well that I love and admire this team. And I know they are good for the fight.
As you can see, my enthusiasm for Becket's mission has not waned. There is no more critical mission for the future of our country than the defense of human dignity at the highest levels of advocacy. The Becket team is the Navy SEALs of religious liberty. Unmatched in strategy, zeal, and role as experts before the Court.
From now on, you’ll be hearing from Mark. I know you’ll enjoy his unmatched ability to distill complex legal issues with crystal clarity and to beat back bureaucratic exploitation with common-sense solutions.
I can’t wait to read about the next Supreme Court case, and God willing, report on the victory!
Yours in the fight for freedom,
Montse
What's happening at Becket
Becket week at the Ninth Circuit–This month, Becket has two oral arguments at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals within one week! Both cases have already been heard by the court but are being reconsidered by a larger panel of judges. The cases are
Apache Stronghold v. United States<[link removed]>, in which Becket is defending an Apache sacred site from obliteration by a foreign-owned mining company, and
Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified School District<[link removed]> where Becket is defending the Christian student group’s right to participate in the campus community.
Doubling down in Dairyland–In a
new Becket case<[link removed]>, Catholic Charities Bureau of Wisconsin requested a religious exemption from the state’s unemployment program so that it could enroll in the Wisconsin Bishops’ Church Unemployment Pay Program, but a Wisconsin court of appeals ruled that Catholic Charities isn’t sufficiently religious because it serves everyone, not just Catholics. Becket appealed the case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court prompting a very unusual move from the court of appeals—the court withdrew its opinion and re-issued it a few days later, doubling down on its poor reasoning that the Catholic charity isn’t Catholic enough. Onward!
A Cinderella Story for the books! I don’t usually share basketball news, but this deserved to be an exception. You may remember
our case<[link removed]> defending Oakwood Adventist Academy’s boys’ basketball team whose playoff run was cut short because the athletic association refused to accommodate their Saturday sabbath. Well, the Oakwood Mustangs
played in the state championship game<[link removed]> last week, sporting “Keep the Faith” jerseys. Though they lost the hard-fought game in the final seconds, we know they’ll be back next year, and thanks to our lawsuit they’ll always be free to compete!
Becket in the news
Cases that never end. Readers of this newsletter will know that we have had several recent wins for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, defending it against lawsuits challenging the right of religious schools to have religious standards when picking counselors and teachers. Despite those wins, the opponents of religious liberty are going back to the same court again hoping to change the court's mind. Becket is confident in another circuit court victory to solidify the last. The Washington Times has
the story<[link removed]>.
Keeping church matters sacred–After a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was suspended over an internal dispute regarding whether he could be a bishop, he sued the church for defamation. His claims are barred by church autonomy principles which prevent secular courts from intervening in matters of church discipline. But lower courts have allowed his claims to proceed. Becket asked the Second Circuit to reconsider its decision in favor of the defrocked priest. The Second Circuit
declined to rehear the case<[link removed]>, but strong dissents signed by six judges urge the Supreme Court to take
the case<[link removed]>—a nice set up for
Becket’s appeal<[link removed]> to the High Court!
Hoping for a Ministerial Exception hat trick…Becket is on file at the Supreme Court in a
similar case<[link removed]>, this time regarding a Colorado Christian school, Faith Bible Academy’s right to dismiss a chaplain after disagreements over a chapel talk on faith and racism that undercut the school’s values. The Supreme Court has already twice ruled in favor of church autonomy in landmark cases brought by the Becket Fund. Why not make it thrice? Once again, Steve West with WORLD has a great
breakdown of the case<[link removed]>.
What we’re reading
Oh, never mind. For a full decade now, various governments across the country have told courts that they absolutely needed to use the health plans of religious groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraception. This was always a bizarre claim—obviously the government can distribute these drugs without the help of Catholic nuns! Well, last month, in a
proposed rule<[link removed]>, the Biden Administration actually acknowledged what should have been obvious all along: that the government has other ways to distribute contraceptives without the forced involvement of religious objectors. It turns out that the decade long legal fight—which has involved more than 100 lawsuits nationwide and 3 Becket wins at the Supreme Court—was totally unnecessary. We hope that courts will remember how frivolous this fight was and which governments and interest groups dragged it on.
They don't understand religious liberty–Friend of Becket, Howie Slugh from the Jewish Coalition for Religious Freedom, spells out the serious problems with a legal challenge trying to use Indiana's RFRA against its abortion ban. After the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, supporters of abortion are looking for every tool they can find to create a right to abortion.
Howie points out<[link removed]> that their attempt to use RFRA fails for a variety of reasons, including some fundamental misunderstandings about how RFRA claims actually work.
"A decent and liberal society would leave Jack Phillips alone." In January, Jack Phillips—the baker who won a partial victory at the Supreme Court after refusing to bake a same-sex wedding cake—lost a new case in a Colorado court of appeals. This time a disingenuous attorney trying to bait Phillips into another lawsuit ordered a cake to celebrate a gender transition. Phillips couldn’t bake the cake, so he’s back in court being beat up by Colorado once again for following his conscience. The Editors of the National Review
chastise<[link removed]> the Colorado courts and bad actors who won’t leave Jack Phillips be.
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Montse Alvarado
Executive Fellow
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