The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: (202) 466-3234,Joe Conn,Rob Boston,Sandhya Bathija

Supreme Court Should Reject Religious Discrimination at Public Universities, Says Americans United

Church-State Watchdog Group Calls on High Court to Affirm Lower Court Ruling in Calif. Law School Case

WASHINGTON

The U.S. Supreme Court today announced it will hear a dispute from
California involving an evangelical Christian club at a public law
school that wants recognition and funding as an official campus
organization, even though it discriminates on religious grounds.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State urged the high
court to use the case as a vehicle to make it clear that groups seeking
public funding and official recognition on public college campuses must
be open to all.

"This case is about fundamental fairness," said the Rev. Barry W.
Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "If the student religious
group wins, it will mean some students will be compelled to support
clubs that won't even admit them as members. That's just not right."

The dispute involves a branch of the Christian Legal Society at
Hastings College of Law at the University of California in San
Francisco. The group sought funding and official status from the
school, even though it effectively bars gays and non-Christians from
membership by requiring all officers and voting members to sign an
evangelical Christian statement of faith.

Hastings College of Law bans discrimination against gays and
lesbians, as well as religious discrimination, and officials there said
they did not want to support a club that was not open to all.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Hastings.

Americans United filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the appeals court and says the Supreme Court should uphold the 9th Circuit decision.

"Public schools have every right - indeed, an obligation - to refuse
to advance religious discrimination," Lynn said. "Groups that wish to
engage in discrimination should not expect public subsidies."

The case is titled Christian Legal Society v. Martinez.

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.