The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty on Thursday will mark 30 years of court battles to protect what’s been called America’s “first freedom” via a banquet in New York celebrating its clients while focusing on the struggles ahead.
Becket has notched 11 Supreme Court wins — many of them unanimous — that ratified believers’ rights to live and work according to the dictates of their faith. The group, which some have dubbed “God’s ACLU,” has also accumulated hundreds of lower court victories.
“For three decades, Becket has been proud to defend religious freedom for all faiths,” Mark Rienzi, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “True freedom includes not merely private worship or belief, but also the right to live out those religious beliefs in daily life.”
Among its high-profile cases is a unanimous high court decision saying Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia can offer foster care placements in line with church teachings on marriage and family.
A similar 9-0 ruling said a Muslim prison inmate can wear a beard mandated by his faith. In a third landmark decision, the justices protected an Evangelical Lutheran church’s right to require teachers to adhere to the faith’s tenets.
One of Becket’s most notable victories, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, protected family businesses from being forced to choose between violating their beliefs or paying “crippling” fines. Hobby Lobby Stores, owned by the Green family, didn’t want to provide emergency contraceptive services mandated by the government.
Lori Windham, a 19-year Becket veteran who is now vice president and senior counsel at the nonprofit law firm, said the group isn’t resting on its laurels.
“No matter how much progress you make, religious liberty still needs defending,” Ms. Windham said in an interview. “We see again and again great victories for religious freedom, especially at the Supreme Court, but it seems like the opponents just double down.”
A case in point is the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of Catholic nuns who care for the elderly poor. They have won three Supreme Court victories allowing them to opt out of requirements that they provide contraceptive and life-terminating drugs to employees, things that would violate their faith, Ms. Windham said.
“Still, California and Pennsylvania won’t let it go,” she said, referring to current legal challenges the Little Sisters face in those states.
Ms. Windham says the nuns are still under threat because they “live out their faith in public. They challenge the way things are being done. And that makes government officials uncomfortable.”
One attorney’s brainchild
The law firm takes its name from 12th-century martyr Thomas à Becket, a former archbishop of Canterbury. He was killed after defending his office from King Henry II’s attempted interference.
Kevin J. “Seamus” Hasson, the group’s founder and now its president emeritus, left “a top D.C. law firm,” to pursue cases that would set legal precedents advancing religious freedom.
In 2012, he told the Deseret News such victories would allow “people the freedom to follow the dictates of their conscience and exercise their faith, as long as it doesn’t threaten public health, safety or morals,” something he believed “is critical for a pluralistic society to peacefully function.”
Today, Becket has 25 attorneys, up from a dozen in 2014, Ms. Windham said. They’re supported by an equal number of staff workers.
Private donors fund Becket, Ms. Windham said: “We’re incredibly grateful to our supporters for making all this possible.”
A medal for individual courage in defending religious freedom is expected to be awarded at Thursday’s Canterbury Gala. The event will feature a keynote address by Rabbi Meir Soloveichik of Congregation Shearith Israel in Manhattan, who received the Canterbury Medial in 2018.
Honorees this year include the Little Sisters of the Poor; Orthodox Jewish advocacy organization Agudath Israel of America; Army Maj. Simmer Singh, a Sikh for whom Becket won the right to maintain his religious garb, beard and hairstyle; and Pastor Robert Soto, a Lipan Apache feather dancer.
“People of all different faith backgrounds come and celebrate” religious liberty, Ms. Windham said. “It’s really exciting to just be in that room and meet people from so many different faiths and so many different walks of life. … We’re celebrating the people who go out and live out their faith and make their communities and their country better.”
A Harvard Law School graduate, Ms. Windham could have pursued any number of career paths. She said her interest in religious liberty and the role of the First Amendment stems from her undergraduate studies at Abilene Christian University, which is affiliated with the Churches of Christ.
“My faith is incredibly important to me, and I want to live in a country and raise my family in a country where that’s going to be protected,” she said. “I was convinced through my studies at ACU and Harvard Law, that the best way to defend religious freedom was to defend it for everybody to make sure it’s a principle of law that applies to everybody. Because if you start to make exceptions, you’re going to end up making an exception for my faith someday, too.”
She said Becket anticipates a role in disputes over religious freedom and public schools, such as the case in Montgomery County, Maryland, where Muslim, Christian and Jewish parents were turned down last week in their quest to opt their children out of classes as early as pre-kindergarten where books with LGBTQ themes and subjects would be discussed.
“I expect that case will be going up to the Supreme Court soon,” Ms. Windham said.
The case of Apache Stronghold, a group fighting to keep sacred lands destroyed by a copper mining operation, is also expected to reach the high court, she said.
“We’re also watching other issues that are developing, like the continued fight to be able to have free speech and religious student organizations in universities and public schools,” Ms. Windham said.
At the base of Becket’s work — as well as her dedication to the cause — is a belief that things can improve, she said.
“America has the greatest ideals in the world, and we don’t always live up to them,” Ms. Windham said. “I think our story is a story of fighting and fighting to get better and to really live up to that promise [of] religious freedom for everyone.”