The 3 - August 5, 2018

This week's edition of The 3, my weekly blog post dealing with three stories of relevance impacting the Christian community, I spotlight a ruling against prayer at the beginning of school board meetings in a district in California.  Also, a women who had encountered a man in the ladies' locker room at a Michigan health club has received a favorable court ruling.  Plus, the U.S. Attorney General has announced a task force to support religious liberty.

3 - 9th Circuit strikes down prayer at beginning of governmental meetings

There does seem to be more confusion about the issue of prayer before public meetings of government bodies. It could have been concluded that the 2014 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case involving the town of Greece, New York, may have settled it, but more appeals court rulings have muddied the waters.

Advocates for Faith and Freedom reports on a case it has been involved in, regarding the Chino Valley Unified School District in California.  It states in a recent press release:

...the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruled that the Chino Valley Unified School District board policy that allows invocations before the start of school board meetings is a violation of the Establishment Clause. The Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals came to a different conclusion in 2017 in American Humanist Association v. McCarty.

Robert Tyler of Tyler & Burch, LLP and legal counsel for the district, is quoted as saying, “This requires the Board to censor or otherwise remove individuals who attempt to say a prayer, or anything that might resemble a prayer, during the public comment period,” adding, “Such an overbroad injunction is a clear violation of the right of private citizens to address their local representatives in public meetings and is dangerous to the First Amendment.”

The press release also says:

In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld ceremonial prayer at city council meetings in Town of Greece v Galloway. In that decision, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy noted the historical significance of such invocations. “Ceremonial prayer is but a recognition that, since this Nation was founded and until the present day, many Americans deem that their own existence must be understood by precepts far beyond the authority of government…,” Kennedy wrote.

During the previous session of the high court, it refused to hear a case out of North Carolina, in which the 4th Circuit had ruled against prayer before government meetings. UPI.com reported:

The Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case leaves in place a lower court's 2017 decision that Rowan County, N.C., commissioners' practice of leading mostly Christian prayers before public meetings and inviting the public to join violates mandated separation of church and state in the First Amendment.

And, earlier this year, the 6th Circuit, in a ruling involving the entire court, according to The Christian Post, ruled "...in favor of a Michigan county's invocation policy for monthly public meetings that allow commissioners to give prayers." The article stated:

In a decision released by the full court on Wednesday, a majority of the Sixth Circuit concluded that Jackson County Board of Commissioners' invocation policy was constitutional.

So, you seem to have different decisions coming up of multiple circuits on similar cases; that could mean the high court will accept one or perhaps more of these in the future.

2 - Court rules in favor of woman in gym dispute

A Michigan woman who had filed a lawsuit against Planet Fitness because of an "unwritten" policy allowing men who identify as women to use the women's locker room received a positive ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court recently.

Liberty Counsel reported:

Yvette Cormier's lawsuit against Planet Fitness was filed in Midland County in 2015 after her membership was canceled because she warned fellow gym members over several days about seeing a biological man, who claims to be “transgender,” in the women’s locker room. Planet Fitness told her that it allows people to use the locker room that matches their “identity.” Midland County Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Beale dismissed the lawsuit in 2016. Cormier then appealed the decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals. The appeals court affirmed Beale's ruling in June of 2016, but Cormier then took her case to the Michigan Supreme Court, which reversed and sided with Cormier.

Liberty Counsel has an interest in this case, certainly: as it states on its website:

Liberty Counsel represents “Mrs. H” whose membership was canceled at Planet Fitness in Leesburg, Florida, because she objected to a man in the women’s locker room.

Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, stated: “This is a safety issue for women who understandably do not want to share a locker room with men. This is also discrimination based on sex and violation of state law. Planet Fitness cannot have secret policies and expect to get away with it..."

1 - Sessions announces Religious Liberty Task Force

The U.S. Department of Justice has sent a strong message to people of faith in America: we hear you and we will defend your First Amendment rights to freedom of religion.  This past week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the formation of a Religious Liberty Task Force.

The National Religious Broadcasters website reported:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week announced, “The Task Force will help the Department fully implement our religious liberty guidance by ensuring that all Justice Department components are upholding that guidance in the cases they bring and defend, the arguments they make in court, the policies and regulations they adopt, and how we conduct our operations. That includes making sure that our employees know their duties to accommodate people of faith.”

This announcement follows previous action, as the website points out: "Per the direction of President Donald Trump in his May 2017 executive order signed on the National Day of Prayer, the DOJ last year issued an extensive guidance for all federal agencies on religious freedom."

Jerry A. Johnson, President and CEO of NRB, stated: “Just one week after the State Department’s historic ministerial, the creation of this new DOJ task force is yet another powerful testament to the seriousness of the Trump administration as it seeks to defend religious freedom,” adding, “I am encouraged by top leaders working to right wrongs against people of faith here in the U.S. and abroad. While such action is common sense to many Americans, it sadly is not to many ‘progressive’ elites.”

I spoke with Jeremy Dys, Deputy General Counsel of First Liberty Institute, about the formation of this task force, as well as two recent incidents involving religious freedom in the military.  You can listen to or download that conversation here.