Court grants ADF attorneys’ motion to allow Ky. legislators to join in on equal access case
Activists sued governor after Baptist university receives public fundingThursday, July 13, 2006
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A circuit court judge issued an order Monday allowing a group of state legislators represented by attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the University of the Cumberlands from receiving public funding to build a pharmacy school on campus.
“When it comes to this type of funding, Christian schools should not be treated any differently than other schools,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Brian Raum. “The University of the Cumberlands should not face discrimination simply because, as a Baptist school, it exercises its legal right to have policies that are in accord with its sincerely held beliefs. Denying the school the funding it needs only serves to harm the students who would otherwise benefit from an excellent educational program.”
In April, the Kentucky General Assembly enacted a bill that granted $10 million to the University of the Cumberlands for the construction of a pharmacy school building, as well as $1 million for the start-up of a scholarship fund for students attending the pharmacy school.
“The legislature passed the funding with a nearly unanimous vote,” Raum explained. “The legislators have intervened in this suit to protect their right to enact such legislation, which benefits everyone in the commonwealth, not just the University of the Cumberlands and its students.”
The University of the Cumberlands is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention. The university prohibits engaging in or promoting sexual behavior that is not consistent with Biblical principles, including sex outside of marriage and homosexual behavior.
Several groups sued Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher in June in the case, Pennybacker v. Fletcher, claiming such policies prevent private schools from receiving public funding.
“Kentucky law has never prohibited appropriations provided to private institutions or facilities solely because of a religious affiliation. Rather, the focus of Kentucky law is whether the appropriation serves a secular purpose. The creation of a pharmacy school and scholarship money in an area in great need serves an educational purpose and therefore does not violate the Kentucky Constitution and is consistent with rulings by Kentucky courts,” said Raum, who worked on the case with ADF-allied attorney Bryan Beauman of Sturgill, Turner, Barker & Maloney of Lexington.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
