Liberalism Prevails This Week at the U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court Restricts Religious Liberty 

On Monday, June 28, 2010, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling on the highly anticipated Christian Legal Society v. Martinez case. The Court looked at the question of whether a university may deny a religious student organization access to school funds and facilities when the organization requires voting members to sign a “Statement of Faith.” Disappointingly, the Court determined in a 5–4 decision that a university may do so without violating the Constitution.

            The Christian Legal Society (CLS) filed the lawsuit on behalf of its University of California, Hastings (UC Hastings) chapter in 2004 after UC Hastings refused to recognize the student group, thus denying the group funding and use of school facilities, because the CLS chapter required voting members to sign a “Statement of Faith” and to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with biblical teachings. School officials contended that the school’s nondiscrimination policy neutrally required all student groups to “accept all comers”— regardless of whether students seeking membership were in alignment with basic tenets or behavioral requirements of the religion that formed the very basis of the group.

Writing for a five-justice majority, Justice Ginsburg attempted to justify the school’s refusal to officially recognize CLS on the grounds that the school did not “require” CLS to admit anyone, but only denied CLS the benefits of recognition when CLS would not voluntarily admit nonbelievers as voting members. In Justice Ginsburg’s words, UC Hastings was merely “dangling the carrot of subsidy, not wielding the stick of prohibition.”

Advocates recognizes, as the four dissenting justices in the case do, however, that this Court’s holding undermines crucial First Amendment rights. Justice Alito stated that the decision runs contrary to our nation’s legacy of protecting freedom of expression, even if some find the speech disagreeable. Instead, he says, the Court majority “rests [its decision] on a very different principle: no freedom for expression that offends prevailing standards of political correctness in our country’s institutions of higher learning.”

Elena Kagan: Another Liberal Appointment
to U.S. Supreme Court  

            Also this week, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings took center stage.   After  being examined this week by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ms. Kagan appears to be the inevitable replacement for retiring Justice Stevens. While Justice Stevens’ exit is good news for conservatives, his replacement by Ms. Kagan dampens the mood.

Kagan, who has never served as a judge in any court, does not have a judicial record that indicates how liberal she may be as a justice in our nation’s highest court.  Instead, she is probably most commonly known for her defiance of military recruiters while she served as Dean of Harvard Law School—one of the most liberal legal institutions in the nation. Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, the leading Republican in the Judiciary Committee, has said that “[i]n many respects, Ms. Kagan's career has been consumed more by politics than law.”

And that is frightening. With as many social issues being as highly politicized as they are today—same-sex marriage, abortion, and religious free speech, for example—the last thing conservatives want to hear is that a newly appointed Supreme Court justice is more committed to “political correctness” than to upholding the Constitution as a Supreme Court justice.

In the end, Kagan will replace one of the most liberal justices in the High Court’s history, and we should not see much change in the outcome of cases that are argued before the justices.  Although she will receive an appointment for life, Kagan will not shift the balance of power on the Court. 

Please stand with us as we continue to battle for religious liberty!

This information is provided by Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a non-profit religious law firm dedicated to protecting religious liberty in the courts!  To help us in our ongoing battle for religious freedom, click here to donate to Advocates.