Fight to Protect the Constitutional Rights of Christian Campus Groups Heads to the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2010—The nation's top conservative public interest law firm is urging the Supreme Court to protect the constitutional rights of religious groups to set membership and leadership criteria according to the dictates of their religious beliefs.  In an amicus brief filed on behalf of numerous Christian campus organizations, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is asking the high court to overturn an appeals court decision that upheld a California law school's denial of official recognition of a Christian student group.  The Christian group refused to agree to let non-Christians become voting members or leaders. 

"It is fundamental to religious freedom that religious groups are free to define their own mission, select their own leaders and determine their own membership criteria," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ.  "The First Amendment protections afforded to religious organizations are clear.  The appeals court decision discriminates against religion, undermines Supreme Court precedent, and injects the government into an area that the Constitution forbids.   We're hopeful the Supreme Court will reverse the decision of the Ninth Circuit."

The case involves a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit siding with the Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Hastings denied official recognition to a student group-the Christian Legal Society (CLS)-after CLS said it could not abide by the school's non-discrimination policy.   That policy forbids student groups from discriminating on the basis of, among other things, "religion."  CLS says its religious beliefs prevent non-Christians from exercising control over the group by becoming voting members or serving in leadership positions.

In its amicus brief filed at the high court, the ACLJ contends that religious groups are constitutionally protected in following their religious beliefs.

"Religious groups by their nature embrace religious principles and, as a matter of organizational identity and coherence, will normally require adherence to such principles as a criterion for membership and certainly for leadership," the brief asserts.  "This is not ‘discrimination' but rather part and parcel of what defines them as religious groups.  Wooden application of religious ‘non-discrimination' policies therefore forces religious groups to choose between their religious identity and access to the forum.  That ‘choice' is an unconstitutional one between yielding to government intermeddling and no access at all.  Far from a permissible condition on benefits, this is a choice that the government, under the Religion Clauses, has no business imposing on religious groups."

The ACLJ concludes that the appeals court decision violates the constitutional protections afforded to religious groups and must be reversed.

"A policy of non-discrimination by the government promotes a wholesome neutrality.  But when the government extends that same policy to private religious groups and directs them not to discriminate on religious grounds, it strays into forbidden territory.  Such a policy inevitably undermines the Court's equal access cases, discriminates against religion, and injects the government into matters-the leadership and membership criteria of religious groups-that the Religion Clauses put squarely out of bounds.  The judgment of the Court of Appeals should be reversed."

The ACLJ's amicus brief in the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez is available here.

The ACLJ represents more than a dozen Christian leaders and organizations active on college and university campuses, including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Campus Crusade for Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Young Life, the Navigator, and the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. 

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.  The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org. 

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