Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
Encyclopedia
Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, 561 U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 2971, 177 L.Ed.2d 838 (2010), is a June 28, 2010, decision by the United States Supreme Court. The court upheld, against a First Amendment
challenge, the policy of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law
governing official recognition of student groups, which required the groups to accept all students regardless of their status or beliefs in order to obtain recognition.
(CLS), required members to subscribe to a "Statement of Beliefs" and refrain from certain proscribed behavior. Hastings denied the CLS recognition as a student organization. The beliefs and behavior at issue were those of LGBT students; neither those students, nor those who advocated for them, were allowed to join. The CLS sued, arguing that university policy violated the group's right to discriminate against non-Christian and LGBT students; the National Center for Lesbian Rights
represented Hastings Outlaw, a campus gay rights group that joined acting chancellor and dean Leo P. Martinez to defend the policy.
, writing for the majority, said that Hastings would then have to review each organization's exclusionary rules to determine "whether a student organization cloaked prohibited status exclusion in belief-based garb". She offered the example of a hypothetical "Male-Supremacy Club" that forbade a female member from running for its presidency, leaving Hastings to determine if her election bid was denied because of her sex or because she did not adhere to the doctrine of male supremacy. Since the particular issue in the case involved the exclusion of homosexual students, CLS had asserted that it did not restrict membership based on sexual orientation but based on "conduct and belief that the conduct is not wrong". Ginsburg rejected that distinction, noting that with respect to sexual orientation the court has "declined to distinguish between status and conduct" and offering the parallel from an earlier case: "A tax on wearing yarmulkes is a tax on Jews."
Ginsburg's analysis explained how this case differed from two earlier cases involving university funding of student groups. The Court in Healy v. James, 408 U. S. 169 (1972) required a Connecticut state college to recognize a chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society
and in Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U. S. 819
(1995) ruled that
student religious publications were entitled to equal funding at the University of Virginia
. In these cases, the educational institutions singled out a group for unfavorable treatment based on the organization's purpose, leftist activism in the first case and Christian evangelism in the second. In CLS v. Martinez, by contrast, Ginsburg argued, Hastings wanted to treat all student groups the same while the CLS sought an exemption for their particular membership policies.
noted that CLS denies membership to those who engage in "unrepentant homosexual conduct", and the same argument could be made by groups that "may exclude or mistreat Jews, blacks, and women – or those who do not share their contempt for Jews, blacks, and women".
as Supreme Court precedent that sexual orientation is "an identifiable class", opposing the defense's argument that sexual orientation is "behavioral".
On June 30, 2010, Peter Schmidt wrote in the Chronicle of Higher Education
that the ruling is unlikely to end litigation over policies on student groups and that colleges should not think that their policies on student groups are immune to legal challenges as a result of the decision.
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
challenge, the policy of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law is a public law school in San Francisco, California, located in the Civic Center neighborhood....
governing official recognition of student groups, which required the groups to accept all students regardless of their status or beliefs in order to obtain recognition.
Factual background
Hastings required that recognized student organizations allow students to participate regardless of the student's status or beliefs. One student organization, the Christian Legal SocietyChristian Legal Society
The Christian Legal Society is a non-profit, non-denominational organization of Christian lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students whose members profess to follow the "commandment of Jesus" to "do justice with the love of God."...
(CLS), required members to subscribe to a "Statement of Beliefs" and refrain from certain proscribed behavior. Hastings denied the CLS recognition as a student organization. The beliefs and behavior at issue were those of LGBT students; neither those students, nor those who advocated for them, were allowed to join. The CLS sued, arguing that university policy violated the group's right to discriminate against non-Christian and LGBT students; the National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Lesbian Rights
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national non-profit, public interest law firm that advocates for equitable public policies affecting the LGBT community, provides free legal assistance to LGBT clients and their legal advocates, and conducts community education on LGBT legal issues. It...
represented Hastings Outlaw, a campus gay rights group that joined acting chancellor and dean Leo P. Martinez to defend the policy.
Majority opinion
CLS argued that Hastings could alter its policy to allow organizations to exclude a student if the student's "beliefs and conduct" did not correspond with those of the student organization but not allow a student to be excluded from an organization based on the student's "status", that is, race or gender. Justice GinsburgRuth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...
, writing for the majority, said that Hastings would then have to review each organization's exclusionary rules to determine "whether a student organization cloaked prohibited status exclusion in belief-based garb". She offered the example of a hypothetical "Male-Supremacy Club" that forbade a female member from running for its presidency, leaving Hastings to determine if her election bid was denied because of her sex or because she did not adhere to the doctrine of male supremacy. Since the particular issue in the case involved the exclusion of homosexual students, CLS had asserted that it did not restrict membership based on sexual orientation but based on "conduct and belief that the conduct is not wrong". Ginsburg rejected that distinction, noting that with respect to sexual orientation the court has "declined to distinguish between status and conduct" and offering the parallel from an earlier case: "A tax on wearing yarmulkes is a tax on Jews."
Ginsburg's analysis explained how this case differed from two earlier cases involving university funding of student groups. The Court in Healy v. James, 408 U. S. 169 (1972) required a Connecticut state college to recognize a chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
and in Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U. S. 819
Rosenberger v. University of Virginia
Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, , was an opinion by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding whether a state university might, consistently with the First Amendment, withhold from student religious publications funding provided to similar secular student...
(1995) ruled that
student religious publications were entitled to equal funding at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. In these cases, the educational institutions singled out a group for unfavorable treatment based on the organization's purpose, leftist activism in the first case and Christian evangelism in the second. In CLS v. Martinez, by contrast, Ginsburg argued, Hastings wanted to treat all student groups the same while the CLS sought an exemption for their particular membership policies.
Stevens' concurrence
In his concurring opinion, Justice StevensJohn Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from December 19, 1975 until his retirement on June 29, 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest member of the Court and the third-longest serving justice in the Court's history...
noted that CLS denies membership to those who engage in "unrepentant homosexual conduct", and the same argument could be made by groups that "may exclude or mistreat Jews, blacks, and women – or those who do not share their contempt for Jews, blacks, and women".
Impact
The court's decision, especially Ginsburg's discussion of "status" and "conduct", was promptly cited by plaintiffs in Perry v. SchwarzeneggerPerry v. Schwarzenegger
Perry v. Schwarzenegger is a federal lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the federal constitutionality of Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that amended the California Constitution to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples,...
as Supreme Court precedent that sexual orientation is "an identifiable class", opposing the defense's argument that sexual orientation is "behavioral".
On June 30, 2010, Peter Schmidt wrote in the Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
that the ruling is unlikely to end litigation over policies on student groups and that colleges should not think that their policies on student groups are immune to legal challenges as a result of the decision.
See also
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 561
- Employment Division v. SmithEmployment Division v. SmithEmployment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 , is a United States Supreme Court case that determined that the state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the use of peyote, even though the use of the drug was...