Author: ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (the circuit court that governs Florida, Georgia, and Alabama) just recently handed down a decision that allowed a case filed by a Christian schoolteacher who was fired for engaging in premarital sex to go to trial. The case is a lesson for Christian ministries in what is necessary to protect against discrimination lawsuits.

The Eleventh Circuit succinctly stated the facts of the case in the opening of its opinion. It said: “A woman of childbearing age was hired as a teacher at a small Christian school. Then she got pregnant, married, and fired. In that order. Then she filed a lawsuit.” The school claimed that the teacher was fired because she engaged in premarital sex which the school viewed as sinful. The teacher claimed that she was discriminated against because she was pregnant. Normally, such claims by a Christian schoolteacher would be prohibited by the “ministerial exception” to anti-discrimination laws. The ministerial exception was recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC. You can read more about that case and the facts of it at this link. Basically, the ministerial exception means that employees of a church or religious organization that are treated as “ministers” cannot bring a lawsuit claiming they have been discriminated against because a church or religious organization has the right to decide for itself who will be its ministers. In the Hosanna-Tabor case, the “minister” was a Christian schoolteacher who claimed she was terminated because of a disability while the school claimed she was terminated for conduct that violated the religious beliefs of the school. In a 9-0 unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Christian school to decide for itself who would be its ministers. FULL POST

Author: ADF President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears

It’s often been said that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” The Alliance Defense Fund is committed to maintaining that vigilance for you nationwide and around the world, as we remain on the alert for opportunities to defend the religious freedom of people of faith and to take on cases that can make a long-range, long-term impact on the American legal system.

In Denver, for instance, ADF staff and allied attorneys filed a brief late last month with the Colorado Court of Appeals in defense of a Douglas County voucher program that pays for students who attend “private school partners” rather than government-run schools. Our friend-of-the-court brief – filed along with local attorney Stuart Lark on behalf of the Association of Christian Schools International, the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, Shepherd of the Hills Christian School, Southeast Christian School, and Valor Christian High School – counters a lawsuit attacking the voucher program for including private religious schools. FULL POST

Author: ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence

The Young America’s Foundation 19th Annual survey of commencement speakers at the 100 top rated U.S. universities show that almost three quarters of the speakers are liberals. Although the ideological beliefs of some of the speakers could not be determined, YAF showed once again that higher education favors liberals over conservatives or other American traditionalists. Here are some highlights from the study:

- of the top 100 U.S. universities rated by U.S. News and World Report, 71 will have liberal commencement speakers, while only 10 will have conservative speakers. YAF could not determine the ideological beliefs of the remaining speakers.

- of the top 35 universities, 29 will have liberal speakers, and only one will have a conservative speaker. FULL POST

Author: ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley

All of us at ADF are rejoicing over the recent victory in North Carolina, which became the 31st state to enshrine marriage as between one man and one woman in its state constitution. I am of the firm belief that the victory would not have taken place had it not been for North Carolina’s churches standing and proclaiming biblical truth about marriage.

One church found itself at the center of the controversy during the voting. The Devon Park United Methodist Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, served as a polling place and also put a message on its church sign that read, “A true marriage is male and female and God.” Voters saw the sign on their way in to vote and some complained about the message. One woman even called the message on the sign “voter intimidation.” FULL POST

Author: ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Travis C. Barham

Over the past year or so, Vanderbilt has repeatedly made headlines with its new “all comers” policy, which prohibits religious student groups from selecting leaders who share the group’s religious convictions. Everyone from columnists to congressmen have expressed dismay over this policy and the way it eliminates religious freedom and freedom of association for students. So I was curious to see how Chancellor Zeppos would address the issue during last week’s graduation. To my amazement, he did so by jettisoning the policy during the commencement festivities.

Vanderbilt opened its Senior Class Day ceremony with an “interfaith welcome,” which featured Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian prayers. But the remarkable thing was who delivered the prayers. A Hindu student gave the Hindu prayer, a Jewish student gave the Jewish prayer, a Muslim student delivered the Muslim prayer, and Christian student likewise represented his faith. FULL POST

Author: ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman

It’s that time of year again when students are finishing up school and getting ready for the summer. There’s the stressful time during final exams and completing any last projects that are due. But there are also some fun times, such as end of the year talent shows that are hosted by many schools. A time when kids find out their friends’ and classmates’ hidden “talents.” Those they may otherwise never get to see.

And the kids display all sorts of talent—some true talent, some not so much—but all in good fun. I’ve seen students who sing, play instruments, juggle, tell jokes (one or two that are even funny), act, dance, reenact the Super Mario Bros video game, and even perform as the infamous Whistling Hat Men. FULL POST

Author: ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor 

In late 2010, Apple removed from its app store the Manhattan Declaration iPhone/iPad app. (The Manhattan Declaration, in case you don’t know, reaffirms the moral teachings of the Christian faith on the sanctity of human life, marriage and sexual morality, and religious freedom and the rights of conscience.) Apple told Manhattan Declaration sponsors that the app’s content was considered “likely to expose a group to harm” and “to be objectionable and potentially harmful to others.” FULL POST

Author: ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Travis C. Barham

In the past few weeks, the students from the campus ministries that have stood together in defense of religious freedom at Vanderbilt have found a surprising ally: the Tennessee Legislature. Earlier this week, the legislature passed a bill that prohibits schools like Vanderbilt—non-religious schools that receive significant amounts of state funding—from requiring religious student groups to accept leaders who do not share their faith. It also prevents public universities from adopting similar policies.

However, it appears that Governor Haslam may actually veto this legislation that holds recipients of tax dollars accountable for how they treat their students. Over at The Corner, David French highlights the errors in the Governor’s reasoning in a post well worth reading in its entirety. Hopefully, freedom-loving Tennesseans will persuade their governor to change course so that he will not hand Vanderbilt a public policy and public relations victory. FULL POST

Author: ADF President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears

Our Lord in His infinite grace continues to crown those the Alliance Defense Fund legal team and its allies are blessed to serve with crucial, far-reaching victories across the U.S. and around the world. A quick sampling of what some of those victories for you look like – at the national, international, and personal level.

On May 8, voters made North Carolina the 31st state in the nation to approve a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. ADF attorneys provided behind-the-scenes legal analysis for the North Carolina Speaker of the House. Such amendments have now won approval in every single state in which the case has been put to a popular vote.

“Once again we see that Americans are married to marriage, the fundamental building block of a healthy, thriving society,” says ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum. “ADF applauds the people of North Carolina who’ve followed in the footsteps of diverse cultures and faiths, throughout history and across the globe, in upholding marriage as the ideal.” FULL POST