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At issue in this case is a free exercise challenge to a Maine secondary school tuition assistance program. To provide for high school education in over half of the State’s school districts that do not have public secondary schools, Maine pays for students to attend public or private schools which provide secular education, including religiously affiliated schools that do not indoctrinate religion. The lawsuit was brought by parents seeking to send their children to religious schools. ADL…

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) has a policy that allows K-12 athletes to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity. This inclusive policy and others like it help protect the safety and wellbeing of transgender youth, and help ensure that all women and girls can access the well-documented benefits of playing sports. In an amicus brief led by the National Women’s Law Center, ADL joined 34 other organizations in supporting CIAC against this…

The Orange County, Florida Human Rights Ordinance provides broader anti-discrimination protections than the State’s Human Rights Law, including prohibitions on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. At issue in this case is whether the State law preempts these broader protections.  ADL joined a brief asserting that the Florida Constitution and long-standing State Supreme Court rulings permit county and municipal governments to adopt more comprehensive anti…

Mississippi passed a law in 2018 that bars abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, with limited exceptions. ADL joined with the National Women’s Law Center and 71 other organizations on an amicus brief urging that the law — an unmistakable challenge to Roe v. Wade — be found unconstitutional. The brief focuses on due process and explains that the devastating impact of allowing a pre-viability abortion ban to stand — or overturning the right to abortion entirely …

At issue in this case is the application of the First Amendment’s ministerial employee exception to an art teacher at a religious elementary school. Grounded in constitutionally mandated separation of church and state, the exception exempts religious institutions from all employment discrimination laws for employees deemed to be ministerial. A lower state court ruled that the teacher, who performed no “vital religious duties,” could move forward with her pregnancy and marital…

Alabama only allows people to change the gender marker on their driver’s licenses if they undergo surgical procedures and submit proof to the state, meaning that transgender people who do not want, cannot afford, or are medically unable to have the required surgeries are prevented from having a license that accurately reflects their gender. Carrying a license with an inaccurate gender marker puts transgender people — especially Black and brown transgender women — at a…

In March 2019, the United States Senior Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) filed a class action lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation, Inc. (USSF), claiming violations of the Equal Pay Act and of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 alleging unequal pay and working conditions as compared to the Men’s National Team (USMNT) in the District Court of Central California. For years, the U.S. Soccer Federation had been paying USWNT players less than their counterparts on…

This case involves a legal challenge to Massachusetts’s anti-bullying statute — namely, that the “emotional harm” prong of the definition of bullying in M.G.L. c. 71, section 37O(a) is unconstitutionally overbroad and vague. ADL has been a key proponent of anti-bullying legislation in Massachusetts and accordingly joined an amicus brief, prepared by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), to emphasize the vital importance of the emotional harm prong of the…

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits voting practices and procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in language minority groups. In this case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that two Arizona election provisions — one that prohibits third-party ballot collection and another that prohibits the counting of out-of-precinct votes — violated Section 2 because of their discriminatory impact on communities of color. The…

At issue in this case is the extent to which K-12 schools can regulate student speech that occurs off-campus. ADL joined a brief prepared by the National Women’s Law Center, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, urging the Court to ensure that when it comes to off-campus speech, schools can regulate student bullying, harassment, or threats, but not speech that is merely perceived to substantially disrupt school activities. The…

At issue in this case is whether the First Amendment ministerial exception should be expanded to categorically bar any Title VII or other hostile work environment claims by clergy and other ministerial employees of religious organizations. The purpose of the exception is to ensure that faith-based organizations have full control in hiring, firing and disciplining employees who perform religious duties. ADL joined a legal brief rejecting this expansion. The brief asserts that such an expansion…

At issue in this case is a business invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a religious exemption from a state anti-discrimination law for the purpose of denying wedding photography services to LGBTQ couples. In opposing this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that such an exemption is not authorized by the Free Exercise Clause and prohibited by the Establishment Clause. Furthermore, the sought exemption would undermine the state law’s prohibitions on religious discrimination…

At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a full exemption from a New Mexico coronavirus public-health order. The order limits indoor religious services to twenty-five percent of building capacity, which is similar to or less restrictive than limitations on comparable nonreligious activities. In opposing the church’s claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the public health order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise Clause standards…

At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a full exemption from a Colorado coronavirus public-health order. The order limits indoor religious services to the lesser of fifty people (one hundred for large houses of worship) or fifty-percent capacity per room, which is similar to or less restrictive than limitations on comparable nonreligious activities. In opposing the church’s claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the public health order is…

At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a full exemption from a Colorado coronavirus public-health order.  The order limits indoor religious services to the lesser of 175 attendees or fifty percent of room capacity, which is similar to or less restrictive than limitations on comparable nonreligious activities. In rejecting this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise Clause standards…

This case involves a second appeal by a public high school football coach who filed a lawsuit claiming religious discrimination under the Free Exercise Clause and employment discrimination laws after he was fired for refusing to stop kneeling in prayer at the football field's 50-yard line immediately following every game. This practice started after the school district directed him to stop leading his team in pre- and post-game prayer, which the Coach had done for eight years prior. The Court…

At issue in this case is a religiously affiliated, taxpayer-funded foster care agency seeking to discriminate against same-sex couples applying to be foster parents. Invoking the Free Exercise Clause, the agency claims that its religious beliefs about same-sex marriage supplant a local anti-discrimination law’s prohibition on sexual orientation discrimination. In rejecting this claim, ADL’s amicus brief asserts that the sought exemption is not permitted by the Free Exercise Clause…

At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a full exemption from a Maine coronavirus public-health order that equally limits religious and secular communal gatherings to 50 people or less. In rejecting this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise Clause standards. Furthermore, the sought exemption is not a permissible religious accommodation. It would violate the Establishment Clause by favoring the…

At issue in this case is a business that seeks a religious exemption from a state anti-discrimination law for the purpose of denying wedding-related services to LGBTQ couples. It, however, does not currently sell such services and there is no allegation that the business violated the law. ADL joined a legal brief filed by religious and civil rights organizations asserting that the business’ lawsuit is premature. Even if it was not, the requested exemption is not required by the Free…

At issue in this case is the legality of new federal rules providing excessively broad religious and moral exemptions from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. The mandate requires employer health insurance policies to cover prescription contraception for women without cost sharing. These discriminatory rules harm women because they effectively allow any employer, including public corporations, to opt out of the mandate. The prior rules already exempted houses of worship,…