ADF attorneys to debate in NY, NC on Supreme Court case involving Christian student group
Christian Legal Society v. Martinez will be subject of law school debates next weekFriday, February 26, 2010
WHAT: Debate at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law with law professor Marci A. Hamilton, the Paul R. Verkuil chair in public law
WHEN: Monday, March 1, at 12 p.m. EST
WHERE: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 55 Fifth Ave., Suite 404, New York, N.Y.
WHO: ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence
WHAT: Debate at Columbia Law School with Jason Stewart, president of the New York City chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
WHEN: Tuesday, March 2, at 12 p.m. EST
WHERE: Columbia Law School, 435 W. 116th St., Jerome Green Hall, Room 103, New York, N.Y.
WHO: ADF Senior Legal Counsel Gregory S. Baylor
WHAT: Debate at the University of North Carolina School of Law–Chapel Hill
WHEN: Thursday, March 4, at 12 p.m. EST
WHERE: University of North Carolina School of Law–Chapel Hill,160 Ridge Rd., Classroom 5048, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys will participate in three law school debates next week sponsored by campus chapters of The Federalist Society on the subject of the U.S. Supreme Court case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. Attorneys with ADF and the CLS Center for Law & Religious Freedom, who are litigating the case, represent a student chapter of CLS, which Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco refused to recognize because the group requires its officers and voting members to subscribe to its basic Christian beliefs.
“Christian student groups shouldn’t be forced to deny their faith in order to be treated the same as other student groups,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Gregory S. Baylor, a participant at one of the debates. “Just as all student groups have the right to associate with people who share common beliefs and interests, Christian student groups have the right to be Christian student groups. A university policy never trumps rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.”
Nearly 100 parties have filed briefs in support of the CLS chapter, including 14 state attorneys general and a wide array of groups ascribing to diverse beliefs and practices.
- Christian Legal Society information page on the case
- Web site of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
LEGAL DOCS
Amicus briefs: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
Petitioner's brief filed with U.S. Supreme Court: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
Petition for writ of certiorari: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
RELATED RESOURCES
CLS information page: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
ADF resource page: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
ABOUT Gregory S. Baylor
Gregory S. Baylor serves as senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund at its Washington, D.C., office, where he litigates cases to protect the rights of Christian students, faculty, and staff at public colleges and universities across the nation. Baylor earned his J.D. at Duke University School of Law, and prior to joining ADF in 2009, he served as director with the Christian Legal Society Center for Law & Religious Freedom in Springfield, Virginia, where he defended religious liberty since 1994. Practicing law since 1990, Baylor is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th Circuits; the Supreme Court of Texas; the District of Colorado; the Northern District of Texas; and the Western District of Texas.
ABOUT Jordan Lorence
Jordan Lorence serves as senior counsel and senior vice-president of the Office of Strategic Initiatives for the Alliance Defense Fund at its Washington, D.C., Regional Service Center. He has litigated religious liberty, free speech, and marriage cases across the nation since 1984. Lorence earned a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1980. He is admitted to the bar in three states, the U.S. Supreme Court, and multiple federal courts.