Using Religion to Discriminate

With increasing frequency, individuals and institutions are attempting to claim a right to refuse to provide services or care based on religious objections. For instance, religiously affiliated hospitals could refuse to perform medically necessary abortions for pregnant women in life-threatening situations, or a landlord could refuse to rent to a family simply because they are Muslim. Through litigation, advocacy and public education, the ACLU works to defend religious liberty and protect people of all faiths from religious discrimination. Learn more >>

12/18/2012

Using Religion to Discriminate

Businesses Do Not Have a License to Discriminate

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 4:24pm

Yesterday, the ACLU and the ACLU of New Mexico filed an amicus brief in Elane Photography, LLC v. Willock, an important antidiscrimination case pending before the New Mexico Supreme Court. Elane Photography is a wedding photography studio that advertises its services to the general public but refuses to take pictures for wedding or commitment ceremonies involving same-sex couples. New Mexico is one of 21 states (plus the District of Columbia) that prohibit businesses who hold themselves out to the general public from discriminating against customers based on their sexual orientation. But Elane Photography argues that the law cannot be applied to its services because – unlike the services provided by a restaurant or retail store – photography is a form of expression and forcing Elane Photography to provide services on an equal basis would therefore unconstitutionally “compel speech.”

12/06/2012

Using Religion to Discriminate

First Circuit Court Should Defend Victims Of Human Trafficking

By Carol Rose, Executive Director, ACLU of Massachusetts at 4:30pm

Today's utterance by Chief Judge Sandra Lynch, of the First Circuit Court of Appeals, gives me hope that the court will do justice for the victims of human trafficking who will be impacted by how the First Circuit rules in a case argued before it this morning.

11/19/2012

Abortion Legislation

“It was all in their hands, and they just let her go.” -- Remembering Savita Halappanavar

By Eunice Hyon Min Rho, ACLU at 5:36pm

On October 21, Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist who was 17 weeks pregnant, sought treatment...

09/18/2012

Pregnancy Discrimination

Fired for My Family

By Emily Herx, a teacher at a Catholic school in Indiana who was fired after the school discovered that she used IVF to try to become pregnant. The teacher filed EEOC charges and later a lawsuit in federal court alleging discrimination on the basis of sex and disability. The ACLU has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.

I did not imagine when I began teaching at St. Vincent de Paul School that I would find myself in this position today. I loved teaching, and was devoted to my profession and to my students. When I was fired, I was shocked and saddened.

09/17/2012

Pregnancy Discrimination

Religion Isn’t a Free Pass to Discriminate Against Employees

By Christina Brandt-Young, Attorney, ACLU Women's Rights Project & Jenny Lee, Staff Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union at 5:49pm

Across the country teachers at religiously affiliated schools are being fired for their reproductive choices. What’s worse, the schools are unapologetic, claiming they have the right to discriminate because of their religious beliefs.

Emily Herx, a former Language Arts and Literature teacher at St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic School in Indiana, was fired after she requested time off to receive in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. She is suing the school for sex and disability discrimination in federal court, and today we filed a friend-of-the court brief to support her legal arguments. A few states over, Jane Doe (a pseudonym), an employee at a Catholic school in Missouri, was fired for becoming pregnant outside of wedlock. Today the ACLU of Kansas & Western Missouri filed a complaint on Jane’s behalf with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for sex discrimination.

08/30/2012

Contraception

Religion Doesn’t Justify Discrimination: ACLU Files Brief in Third Contraception Rule Challenge

By Brigitte Amiri, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project & Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Michael J. Steinberg, Legal Director, ACLU of Michigan & Sarah Mehta, Fellow, Immigrants' Rights Project, ACLU at 12:33pm

Another private company – this one sells lawn and snow removal equipment in Michigan – is challenging the federal rule that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception without a co-pay. As we’ve written before, these cases are meritless and harken back to a time that we should not repeat. For example, in 1966, the Piggie Park restaurant in South Carolina refused to serve African-Americans because integration was against the owners’ religious beliefs. The same argument was used to try to get around equal pay and labor protections. The courts did not allow religion to justify discrimination then, and they should not do so now.

08/23/2012

Wildflower Inn

Settlement In “No Gay Reception” Case Shows that Public Businesses Do Not Have a License to Discriminate

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 2:25pm

Earlier today, the ACLU and the ACLU of Vermont announced a fantastic settlement that we obtained in Baker & Linsley v. Wildflower Inn. We brought the case on behalf of a same-sex couple who were told they could not have their wedding reception at a Vermont resort called Wildflower Inn because of the owner’s personal religious beliefs about marriage. As part of the settlement agreement, Wildflower Inn agreed that Vermont’s public accommodations law prohibits unequal treatment of same-sex couples, which includes turning away same-sex couples seeking to have a wedding reception, failing to respond to inquiries from those couples, or discouraging those couples from using the facilities. The resort also agreed to pay $10,000 to the Vermont Human Rights Commission as a civil penalty and to place $20,000 in a charitable trust to be disbursed by the couple. The plaintiffs, Kate Linsley (nee Baker) and Ming Linsley, will not be retaining any of the money for themselves.

08/15/2012

Using Religion to Discriminate

Another Contraception Challenge, Another Misguided Argument

By Brigitte Amiri, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project & Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Witold Walczak, Legal Director, ACLU of Pennsylvania at 4:14pm

As we’ve written before, history has a way of repeating itself. Private companies that are challenging the federal rule that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception without a co-pay are also repeating their same, misguided argument that the rule violates their religious liberty. Yesterday the ACLU filed an amicus brief in the most recent case raising these arguments – this time in a case brought by a lumber company.

08/02/2012

War on Women

War Against Women Rages On in the Federal Courts

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 2:00pm

It’s been an interesting few weeks for women’s rights and health in the courts. First, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state can force a doctor to tell a patient that women who have abortions are more likely to commit suicide than those who continue the pregnancy even

08/01/2012

Employment Discrimination

Obama Promised to Stop Government-Funded Discrimination. Has He?

By Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:51pm

Four years ago last month, then-candidate Barack Obama promised to ensure that religious organizations that receive government funds to provide social services abide by the Constitution and are not allowed to discriminate with government funding. Today, we sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Department of Justice to follow up on that promise.

American Civil Liberties Union