Supreme Court to hear 1st Amendment case

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case to determine whether religious organizations on college campuses can require their leaders to share that organization’s beliefs.

In 2006, a ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling allowed the University of California, Hastings College of the Law to restrict a Christian organization from controlling membership by requiring the organization to offer voting membership and leadership positions to students who do not share the organization’s values and beliefs.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox filed an amicus brief on behalf of Michigan last week encouraging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ninth Circuit Court’s ruling in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez.

Universities should allow like-minded students to freely associate with each other in student groups and create membership requirements based on beliefs, said Cox’s spokesman, Nick De Leeuw.

“For college campuses to truly be diverse institutions, they must recognize the rights of diverse student groups, including faith-based groups, to set their own membership standards,” said De Leeuw.

Although Cox said the ruling threatens the autonomy of student leadership in religious organizations, it has not been an issue at MSU, said Paulette Granberry Russell, MSU’s senior adviser to the president for diversity and director of the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives.

“We have not had disputes on our campus to the extent that we have student organizations concerned,” she said.

Thirteen other states’ attorneys general signed on to Cox’s amicus brief, De Leeuw said.

Filing an amicus brief allows interested parties to express their stance regarding a case the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear, said MSU political science lecturer William Myers.

“When the U.S. Supreme Court has already accepted a case, usually state governments and especially state attorneys general will submit amicus briefs,” he said.

“They may all have the same interest and because (amicus briefs) are really expensive to put together they usually band together.”

MSU Campus Crusade for Christ President David Kempf said students of all beliefs and backgrounds can join the group, but leaders should uphold the Christian beliefs of the group.

“It is obviously very important to have open avenues for people in a group regardless if they are Christian or not,” he said.

“In terms of leadership, that would be stupid, if you weren’t a Christian to be running for leadership in a Christian organization.”

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in December, but the hearing is not scheduled yet.

Myers said the case likely will be heard before the end of the U.S. Supreme Court’s term in June.