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Major Wins at the Supreme Court Suggest the Tide for Religious Expression is Turning

Religious Freedom in Decline? Major Wins at the Supreme Court Suggest the Tide is Turning

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Religious Freedom in Decline? Major Wins at the Supreme Court Suggest the Tide is Turning

A majority of Americans (54%) believe religious liberty is on the decline, according to a recent Lifeway Research poll. Similarly, the Freedom Forum found 56% say religious freedom is being threatened in America.

Looking at these statistics alone, some might be led to believe there is no hope to restore or protect our First Freedom.

But that’s not the case. When we look at recent legal victories at the U.S. Supreme Court, a different picture emerges. The fact is this: religious freedom is on a major winning streak at the nation’s highest court. We’re witnessing religious liberty making an unprecedented comeback.

Coach Kennedy’s Comeback Victory

In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in favor of our client Coach Joe Kennedy, who was fired for privately praying on the 50-yard line. It upheld his right to take a knee in quiet, solitary prayer after games. But this wasn’t only a victory for one coach in Washington state. It has a nationwide impact on public-school teachers, employees and coaches, who are now free to live out their faith in public.

This win overturned a 50-year-old bad precedent, Lemon v. Kurtzman. The legal test that came out of that ruling caused many school officials to suppress any religious observances, leading them to violate the rights of teachers and students.

Because of the Kennedy victory, that’s no longer the case. The Court set a major precedent affirming that the government cannot censor private religious expression.

How big of an impact does this have on religious freedom law? Here’s an easy way to think about it: law school textbooks and courses will have to be rewritten. Lemon is no longer the default. Moving forward, our courts and law schools will refer to the Kennedy case as the standard.

Supreme Court Rejects Discrimination in Maine

The Supreme Court also handed a major victory to parents and students in our Treat Children Fairly case, Carson v. Makin. The Court held 6-3 that state tuition assistance programs cannot discriminate against parents who want to send their children to religious schools.

This victory brings an end to decades of discrimination. It rights the wrongs done to countless parents and students not only in Maine, but also across the country. This victory makes it clear that in America, families should not be excluded from participating in widely available public benefits, simply for choosing a religious education.

Freedom Flies in Boston

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Shurtleff v. Boston. It held that the city of Boston violated the freedom of speech of a Christian group when it refused a request to fly a Christian flag outside city hall. This clarified that the government cannot treat religious organizations and individuals differently. It must regard them the same as their secular counterparts.

Those are just some of the massive victories we’ve witnessed in 2022. But let’s not forget other precedent setting cases.

Bladensburg Peace Cross: The Days of “Offended Observers” Are Over

Recall the historic victory in American Legion v. American Humanist Association. This landmark 7-2 ruling in 2019 upheld the constitutionality of the Bladensburg WWI Veterans Memorial, a cross-shaped monument located on government property in Maryland.

This win helped preserve the memory of the heroes it stands for and set a historic precedent protecting similar displays nationwide. It made an important change in our constitutional law, returning to a more commonsense reading of the First Amendment.

For cases involving religious displays, the Court would apply a more constitutionally faithful “history and tradition” test. Because of the Bladensburg victory, the days of offended observers forcing governments to scrub all public references to the divine are over.

While there is still much work to be done and many important religious liberty cases yet to be won, we should be encouraged by the multiple wins in recent years. These are a sign that the tide of hostility is turning, and the future of religious freedom is brighter than ever before.

Now You Can | Restoring Faith in America

Putting Religious Displays Back Where They Belong

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Now You Can | Restoring Faith in America

Putting Religious Displays Back Where They Belong

Many Americans don’t realize it, but there’s an incredible revival breaking out all across our country right now. We’re witnessing the greatest comeback and the biggest positive change for religious freedom in our generation. You and every American is experiencing more religious freedom today than at any point in the last 50 years.

Hope is being renewed. Religious freedom is thriving—and nowhere is this clearer than in the restoration and rebuilding of monuments, memorials and religious displays.

How often have you seen or heard about crosses being torn down? What about the many veterans memorials that have been desecrated for including a Scripture? What about Nativity displays outside a city hall or in a public park that were carted off into storage? How many times has a religious symbol or reference been scrubbed because someone claimed to be “offended”? There are simply too many examples to count.

Here’s the good news: Now you can help reverse this widespread destruction. Now you can be a part of the national effort to rebuild and restore.

Thanks to the landmark victories for religious freedom that were secured in the Coach Kennedy and the Bladensburg Peace Cross cases (Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and American Legion v. American Humanist Association), historic displays with religious references and imagery no longer have to be hidden. That includes Ten Commandments monuments outside government buildings, nativity scenes in city parks and prayers to open public meetings. These can be put back where they rightfully and legally belong. For you, it means in your community you have the legal foundation to restore religious memorials, monuments and displays—and to confidently defend them if anyone tries to tear them back down.

One example of this seismic shift in favor of religious freedom is the Ten Commandments display outside the Arkansas state capitol.

For years, radical groups including the ACLU, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the American Humanist Association and the Satanic Temple have been trying to topple this monument. Their legal challenges continue to this day.

But according to the law and the Constitution, this display doesn’t have to go anywhere. The Supreme Court made clear that public religious displays should be seen as “presumptively constitutional.” The victories in American Legion and Kennedy brought an end to the days of offended observers forcing governments to scrub all public references to the divine.

In this new dawn for religious freedom, this means the Ten Commandments display in Little Rock can stay right where it is.

Attorney Lea Patterson and First Liberty Live! host Stuart Shepard recently visited the Arkansas Capitol to discuss our ongoing defense of the monument. They also talk about how you, and all Americans, can join First Liberty’s Restoring Faith in America movement to save and preserve our nation’s religious heritage.

Check out their conversation:

NOW YOU CAN: Righting Past Wrongs and Rescuing Religious Freedom from Suppression

For decades, public religious expression was censored and people of faith were stripped of their constitutional rights. Religious Americans were accustomed to playing defense and reacting to violations of our First Freedom. But with the incredible new momentum for religious freedom, we cannot stand idly as enemies of freedom plan their next attack. It’s time for us—for YOU—to go on offense.

Preserving Ten Commandments monuments or crosses on government property is only one way to bring back America’s religious heritage. There are countless ways to reclaim our country’s heritage of religious expression. Here’s how you can help restore faith right where you live:

  • A football player can ask teammates and opposing players to pray together on the field after a game (and ask coaches to join as well).
  • You can ask your school board to open meetings with a prayer.
  • Your city can put up a menorah for Hanukkah and a nativity scene for Christmas.
  • Your local city, county or state government can display a Christian flag or any other flag with religious imagery outside its building.
  • Your local police station can put up a memorial for fallen officers containing Proverbs 28:1 or the “Police Officer’s Prayer.”
  • A teacher can put up a 10 Commandments poster in her classroom.
  • Your sheriff’s department can display America’s national motto “In God We Trust” on their patrol cruisers.
  • Faith-based organizations like Teen Challenge can receive government funding and fully participate in programs (such as drug rehab) without discrimination.
  • You can help spread the word at your church or local ministry that they cannot be excluded from government grants or benefits programs (for homelessness, drug rehab, food banks, etc.) simply because they are faith-based.

Americans from coast to coast are taking a stand. God has opened an incredible door, and those who’ve been robbed of their constitutional rights are now free to fearlessly live out their faith.

Will you stand for faith? To restore faith in America, we need you to spread the word on how to revive faith in your community. We encourage you to share your expressions of faith on social media. Tell your friends, family, congregation, pastor and your elected officials to help restore faith in your community. YOU are the catalyst that can help kindle a new fire for faith and freedom. Together, let’s renew hope in our country and restore religious freedom for generations to come.

A School Year with More Liberty Than Ever Before | Restoring Faith in America

A School Year with More Liberty Than Ever Before

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A School Year with More Liberty Than Ever Before

Back-to-school season is here! This year, however, things will be different for students, parents, teachers, administrators and coaches when they return to the classroom, the office or the field. After two major victories at the U.S. Supreme Court this summer, Americans in our nations’ schools have more freedom than they’ve have had in a half century.

In one of the most important religious liberty victories in our generation, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Court upheld the right of public high school football coach Joe Kennedy to pray at the 50-yard line after games.

But it’s not just a victory for one coach. The Court struck down a bad precedent, Lemon v. Kurtzman, and set a new one. For five decades, Lemon was a thorn in the side of religious freedom. The legal test it established caused many school officials to suppress any religious observances, leading them to violate the rights of teachers and students.

Because of the Kennedy victory, that’s no longer the case. The Court makes clear that government cannot censor private expression simply because it is religious. This will have a nationwide impact on public-school teachers, employees and coaches, who can now freely live out their faith in public.

The second victory was in Carson v. Makin. This 6-3 ruling is a major win for school choice, parents, students and religious schools. It affirmed that states cannot discriminate in student-aid programs against parents who want to send their children to religious schools. This victory brings an end to decades of religious discrimination. It makes it clear that families should not be excluded from participating in widely available public benefits, simply for choosing a religious education. Not only did it deliver justice for our clients, but also for parents in Maine and across the country—who are now free to send their children to the school of their choice.

These victories represent a seismic, positive change to religious freedom law.

For decades, public employers, especially within school districts, often misunderstood their obligations under the First Amendment religion clauses. Coach Kennedy’s Supreme Court victory, however, clarifies that government does not need to show hostility toward religion. It may not fire public employees for living out their faith.

This is a huge sigh of relief for everyday Americans who were put in the untenable position of choosing between their job and their faith. Moving forward, they should not have to confront this difficult decision. This affirms the liberty of a Jewish teacher to wear a yarmulke, a Catholic coach to make the sign of the cross, or a Christian principal to say a blessing over her lunch in the cafeteria. It means Americans of any faith and religious affiliation can engage in a private expression of their faith on campus—without censorship or punishment.

The Carson decision also has widespread impact for religious education and will allow more freedom in school choice programs in multiple states. It effectively nullifies the discriminatory “Blaine Amendments” found in more than 30 state constitutions. These provisions, which prohibit public funds from flowing to religious schools, have long been weaponized by school choice opponents, who wield them to attack school choice bills in state legislatures and school choice programs in courts. With the Blaine Amendments effectively removed as a barrier and the legal cloud over choice programs lifted, the path to even greater educational opportunity for our children and grandchildren is now clear.

This school year, religious freedom can thrive and shine like never before. But even with these victories, the fight to restore and protect religious liberty in our nation’s schools is far from over. There still a lot of work ahead to ensure school districts, courts and officials across the country follow the Supreme Court’s direction.