A Broad Spectrum of Civil Rights Groups Linked Arms in a Recent Supreme Court Case.
Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski is a religious liberty case. It involves two college students who were deprived by a public college of their rights to share the Gospel while on campus.
The case has made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”). I listened to the 1/12/21 live audio of the oral argument.
I also took the opportunity to listen in on “pre-game” and “post-game” analysis provided by attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom (“ADF”) and that included their clients, the two students.
The lead attorney for ADF stated that, to the best of her knowledge, this is the first time that the ADF and the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) were ever on the same side in a First Amendment case. Please see the Conclusion for the reasons driving this unusual alignment.
Places of Learning Are Often Ill-Informed About Their First Amendment Duties.
The ADF represented Chike Uzuegbunam and Joseph Bradford, two students attending Georgia Gwinnett College (“GGC”). The students shared similar religious beliefs and a desire to express those beliefs publicly.
Campus officials actively prevented Chike from using the campus’ “free speech zone” to share the Gospel, even though he was complying with campus speech procedures, because someone was offended by his words.
Joseph saw how Chike was treated, and chose to keep silent out of fear of similar mistreatment. This is the classic description of government action that had a chilling effect on one’s constitutional rights.
Public schools and colleges generally have a duty to remain neutral between students who hold different viewpoints. They aren’t permitted to favor a Christian’s viewpoint over an Atheist’s viewpoint (or vice-versa) on the same subject.
Sadly, the experience of ADF attorneys across the nation shows that approximately 90% of colleges have unconstitutional “speech codes” that are invariably used to discriminate against the religious point of view.
Why is This Case at SCOTUS?
Chike and Joseph approached the ADF for help recovering their rights. An ADF attorney sent a letter to GGC informing them of the ways in which the speech code violated the constitution, and offering to help GGC rewrite it. GGC rebuffed these attempts, leading ADF to file a First Amendment case in a Federal District Court in Georgia. After lengthy delays, GGC finally changed its speech code. GGC then filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that there was no longer any harm being done to the students.
Over ADF’s objections, the court dismissed the case. ADF filed an appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the dismissal.
According to ADF, the case should not have been dismissed in light of centuries of precedent that permit aggrieved persons to prove the deprivation of their rights and to recover attorneys’ fees from the government.
Conclusion – Why This Matters.
If the SCOTUS upholds the 11th Circuit’s dismissal of the case, it will allow colleges to violate a student’s fundamental rights with impunity, simply by (as GGC did) giving in at the last minute and changing a policy that it should be willing to change as soon as it learns of the policy’s problems.
This case allied groups across the political spectrum who regularly seek to vindicate an individual’s rights against the government. The ACLU often sues over police misconduct. The ADF often sues over misconduct by schools, public libraries, and park districts.
What they have in common is helping the weak take on the strong.
Thank you!
Michael Oswald
Michael Oswald is a follower of Jesus who lives in Boise, Idaho. Unless otherwise specified, the opinions expressed in this article are his own.
© 2021 Michael S. Oswald
“Reasons for the Faith, aka Apologetics” 