B.P.J. is a transgender girl in middle school who challenged her exclusion from participating in school sports by West Virginia's anti-transgender sports ban. A district court found that Title IX does not protect a transgender student’s right to participate in school sports consistent with the student’s gender identity. In a brief led by the National Women’s Law Center, ADL joined 51 organizations committed to gender justice to support B.P.J.’s appeal of…

At issue in this case is a wedding photographer who seeks a religious exemption to Louisville's  anti-discrimination ordinance for the purpose of denying wedding-related services to same-sex couples. ADL joined 14 other faith-based organizations in a brief led by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The brief argues that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment does not require granting the photographer a religious exemption to this neutral, generally…

Title 42 is a public health law that was invoked by the Trump Administration at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to turn away asylum seekers, contrary to the expertise of public health professionals and U.S. obligations under national and international law. President Biden continued and expanded its use, long after other pandemic measures ended. In Huisha-Huisha v. Mayorkas, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Administration must end its use of Title 42 to expel…

In August 2022, Indiana passed a law banning abortion in the state under almost all circumstances.  ADL joined a large interfaith coalition in this amicus brief, drafted by Americans United for the Separation of State, opposing the abortion ban, asserting that it “runs roughshod” over religious pluralism protected by the Indiana Constitution.  The brief contends that Indiana’s new law, reflecting the intent of those legislators supporting it, “imposes one…

In Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison (1977), the Supreme Court held that an employer is required to allow a religious accommodation for an employee under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 unless doing so would constitute an “undue hardship” for the business. However, the Court defined an “undue hardship” as anything that imposes “more than a de minimis cost” for the employer — a very low standard that has made it difficult over the years…

In this case, relatives of a victim of a 2017 ISIS terror attack allege that Twitter and other social media platforms aided and abetted an act of international terrorism and are secondarily liable under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) because the platforms allowed ISIS to use their platforms to recruit members, issue terrorist threats, spread propaganda, fundraise, and intimidate civilian populations. ADL’s brief highlights how terrorists and terrorist organizations use social media to…

This is the first time the Supreme Court is hearing a case regarding the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the key law that has been interpreted to provide near-total protection from liability to internet platforms for harm caused by user-generated content. The case, brought by the family of an American murdered by ISIS, alleges that YouTube knowingly hosted and recommended terrorist content, thus aiding and abetting terrorism. The lower court would not even let the case…

Lonnie Billard, a former drama teacher and substitute teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School, was fired after posting on Facebook that he was planning to marry a man. ADL joined 47 organizations committed to gender justice and LGBTQ+ rights in an amicus brief supporting Mr. Billard. The brief, filed before the Fourth Circuit, was led by the National Women’s Law Center. It points out that Title VII provides necessary workplace civil rights protections for nearly one million employees…

This case alleges a pattern of discriminatory conduct by the Town of Clarkstown, in coordination with a group called Citizens United to Protect Our Neighborhood (“CUPON”), to block the purchase of property by an Orthodox Jewish school – Ateres Bais Yaakov Academy (“ABY”) — by any means necessary. ADL’s proposed brief, prepared by the law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP in support of ABY, sets forth a history of the Religious Land Use and…

This case involves a challenge to Indiana’s 2022 sports ban targeting transgender girls and young women. The ACLU brought the case on behalf of A.M., a 10-year-old transgender girl who was forced to leave her elementary school softball team as a result of the ban. A.M. won a preliminary injunction finding that the ban likely violates Title IX, and Indiana appealed. ADL joined 58 other organizations in an amicus brief led by the National Women’s Law Center in support of A.M. The…

This case, directly relevant to ADL’s Democracy Initiatives, involves a claim by the North Carolina General Assembly that under the oft-discredited “independent state legislature theory” it has the sole power to set the state’s congressional map, and this power cannot be challenged under the state’s constitution in state courts. ADL’s brief, joined by The Sikh Coalition, The Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Women of Reform…

In this case against the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), a Sikh USMC Captain and three Sikh Marine recruits filed suit to be able to serve with their articles of faith. This included a request for the recruits to attend Marine recruit training while maintaining their turbans and beards, which was prohibited in their initial limited religious accommodations. ADL, the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, and Interfaith Alliance filed a motion to participate as amicus curiae in support of the…

At issue in this case is the right of the Thai Meditation Association of Alabama (TMAA) to offer meditation services on property it owns in Mobile, Alabama. TMAA has faced repeated obstacles in its effort to build its facility even though the property is located in a zoning district that encourages religious uses. The brief — filed in coalition with the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, the ACLU, Muslim Advocates, the Orthodox Union, the Sikh American Legal Defense and…

At issue in this case is a business that seeks a religious exemption from a state anti-discrimination law for the purpose of denying wedding-related services to LGBTQ+ couples. It, however, does not currently sell such services and there is no allegation that the business violated the law. ADL joined 7 other civil rights organizations in an amicus brief led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law arguing that upholding public accommodation laws is essential to ensuring that…

The mission of ADL is to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.

At issue in this case is whether a school district may deny a student club official recognition if the club conditioned students’ full participation on signing a “Statement of Faith and Purity” that discriminated against LGBTQ+ students in violation of the district’s nondiscrimination policy. ADL joined a coalition of 22 organizations in an amicus brief in support of the school district and its nondiscrimination policy that prohibits officially recognized student…

This case involves a challenge to a Texas law that that seeks to stop social media censorship and would effectively eviscerate the ability of major platforms to engage in meaningful content moderation. ADL joined a coalition amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to prevent the law from going into effect, arguing that the law “decimates platforms’ efforts to effectively and usefully curate content” and “forces disgraceful and wasteful speech onto platform users.”…