SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Legal Society applauded the language in today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, acknowledging that it provides a legal framework that supports religious liberties.
“The Supreme Court’s key message is this: The government has to give an awfully good reason for stopping people from exercising their faith,” said Gregory S. Baylor, director of CLS’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom.
ADF funded a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Christian Legal Society in support of the church’s right to religious freedom.
Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears explained that given prior precedents, today’s ruling could pave the way for returning to the Constitution’s original intent with regard to other kinds of religious liberties cases, including those involving situations concerning freedom-of-conscience for medical professionals as well as the right for parents to opt out their children from attending school seminars that promote agendas contrary to the families’ religious beliefs.
“The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision today has tremendous potential from a legal standpoint in guaranteeing the rights of Americans to their first liberty, which is religious freedom,” said Sears. “We recognize the value in having our nation’s highest court apply the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in a strong but prudent manner to restrain the federal government’s ability to infringe on religious liberties.”
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
