At issue in this case is the constitutionality of a county seal that prominently displays the Latin cross. Although a lower court ruled that the seal violates the Establishment Clause to the First Amendment, a substantial portion of its opinion questioned settled U.S. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals precedent, based on inaccurate descriptions of the history, purpose, and fundamental objectives of the First Amendment. ADL joined an amicus brief filed by a diverse group of religious and civil…

At issue in this case is President Trump’s third attempt at prohibiting travel to the United States from six majority-Muslim nations.  The Ninth Circuit affirmed an injunction put in place by the district court, which protects foreign nationals with a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.  ADL’s brief, which was joined by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Women of…

At issue in this case is President Trump’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program created by President Obama in 2012 that granted work authorization and relief from deportation for a two-year period for certain undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. The decision unnecessarily put the lives of the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients and their families in limbo. ADL joined an amicus brief in support of the challenge to this…

The case involves a videography company in Minnesota that refuses to provide services for weddings of same-sex couples. The owners filed a lawsuit challenging a Minnesota anti-discrimination statute that would have prevented them from discriminating against same-sex couples. Among other things, Telescope Media Group argued that application of the Minnesota law to the situation would compel speech in violation of the First Amendment, and violate their religious freedom rights under the Free…

This case involves an employer that withdrew an offer of employment when its owners learned that the applicant is a gay man and that his religious beliefs about sexual orientation and marriage of same-sex couples didn’t conform to the employers’. In response, he filed a lawsuit for claims of sex and religious discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Horton claims that the withdrawal of the offer based on his sexual orientation constitutes sex discrimination…

At issue in this case is California’s Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care and Transparency Act (FACT) Act, which was enacted in 2015, to regulate the state’s 300-plus Crisis Pregnancy Centers (“CPCs”). The law requires some licensed and unlicensed CPCs to post notices inside clinics indicating how women can access prenatal care, family planning, and abortion. In addition, it requires unlicensed centers to notify patients that they don’t have a…

At issue in this case is a challenge to President Trump’s executive order withholding federal funds to “sanctuary” jurisdictions. ADL filed a brief urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the nationwide injunction put in place by a federal judge in California permanently blocking the policy. As an organization that intimately understands the importance of trust between law enforcement and communities, ADL argues in its brief that the President’s Executive…

At issue in this case is Boyertown Area School District's policy allowing transgender students to use the restrooms and changing facilities consistent with their gender identity. ADL, which has provided anti-bias training to schools in Boyertown through its No Place for Hate program for over a decade, filed an amicus brief supporting Boyertown's inclusive policy. Our amicus was joined by LGBT advocacy organizations, healthcare providers, civil society groups, education and…

This case challenges immigration enforcement-related conditions imposed by the Justice Department on the receipt of federal public safety grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (“JAG”) program. ADL filed a brief urging the Court to block enforcement of these new standards imposed on the federal grants. ADL’s brief argues that the policy would undermine City protections of immigrants through Chicago’s “Welcoming City policy” and…

At issue in this case is President Trump’s decision to rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program created by President Obama in 2012 that granted work authorization and relief from deportation for a two-year period for certain undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. The decision unnecessarily put the lives of the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients and their families in limbo. ADL joined an amicus brief in support of the challenge to this…

This case raises a novel school prayer issue. Cambridge Christian School (“Cambridge”) is a private religious school and a member of the Florida High School Athletic Association (“Association”), which is a public entity. Cambridge’s football team made it into a division playoff game, which was to be played in a public stadium under the Association’s control. The school requested that the team’s customary pre-game, group prayer be broadcast over the…

Plaintiffs, three houses of worship, challenged a Federal Emergency Management Agency rule, which prohibits houses of worship from obtaining emergency disaster grants. The houses of worship sought such grants for the purpose of reconstructing or repairing buildings primarily used for religious worship damaged by hurricanes. They claim that the rule violates the Free Exercise Clause to the First Amendment. While certainly mindful of the damage suffered by these houses of worship, the amicus…

At issue in this case is the federal government’s decision to tie certain DOJ public safety grants for law enforcement to immigration enforcement conditions. ADL filed a brief urging the court to issue a preliminary injunction to block DOJ’s unconstitutional interpretation and intended application of federal immigration law and to ensure the protection of critical state protections for immigrants. As the largest non-governmental trainer of police on issues of hate crimes and…

At issue in this case is the constitutionality of a 34-foot Latin cross displayed in a public city park. The cross is the focal point for an amphitheater designed for hosting worship services on Easter. Although the lower court begrudgingly ruled that the due the display’s clear religious purpose it violates the Establishment Clause to the First Amendment, its decision extensively criticizes long-standing Establishment Clause precedents, which the court was obligated to enforce, and…

This case involves the constitutionality of a Montana Department of Revenue rule, which prohibits the use of “scholarships” provided under a State neo-voucher program to support K-12 religious education. The rule was issued pursuant to the Montana Constitution’s “No-Aid” clause, which requires stronger separation of church and state than the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The neo-voucher program provides a tax-credit to individuals who make a donation…

Based on religious objections to same-sex marriage, the owner of a bakery refused to design and sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple for their upcoming wedding. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission found that the bakery violated the State’s anti-discrimination law, which prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in the sale of goods and services by public accommodations. In response to this violation, the petitioners, the bakery and its owner, raised multiple constitutional claims,…

This amicus brief case asks the Supreme Court to grant a petition for certiorari and resolve the question of whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation through its prohibition of discrimination “because of . . . sex.” In April 2015, petitioner Jameka Evans filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Georgia alleging that her former employer, Georgia Regional Hospital, fired her because she is gay, does not act …

At issue in this case is President Trump’s second executive order on refugees which, among other things, temporarily banned travel from six majority-Muslim countries and suspended refugee resettlement in the United States for a period of 120 days. This brief, which was signed by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and Women of Reform Judaism, urges the U.S. Supreme Court to block the executive order from going…

At issue in this case is partisan gerrymandering. After the 2010 census, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature engaged in redistricting. The district lines that would ultimately become law in Wisconsin had a distinct partisan advantage for Republicans. A professor analyzing the plan concluded that Republicans would be able to maintain a 54 seat majority (of the 99 Assembly seats) while only garnering 48% of the statewide vote, while Democrats would have to get 54% of the statewide…

This case involves the constitutionality of Mississippi HB 1523 — the so-called "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act." HB 1523 provides sweeping, legal exemptions and immunities to public officials, individuals or business who or that hold one of three religious or moral beliefs: marriage should be limited to opposite sex-marriage; sexual relations should be limited to opposite-sex marriage; and "Male (man) or Female (woman) refer to an individual’s…