First Liberty represents 35 U.S. Navy SEALs whose careers and livelihoods are being threatened with punishment, involuntary separation or even court-martial. Why? Because they are seeking a legal, religious accommodation to the Department of Defense (DoD) vaccine mandate. And it’s not only the Navy SEALs themselves who face harassment, but also their families. First Liberty has documentation from the DoD stating that military service members and their dependents (who are not subject to military orders) cannot travel until they are vaccinated.
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First Liberty represents several U.S. Air Force service members whose careers and livelihoods are being threatened. Why? Because they are seeking a legal, religious accommodation to the military vaccine mandate. Our attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Defense (DoD) and Secretary of the Air Force to stop them from discriminating against our clients. This punishing of service members is outrageous—and illegal
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The Biden administration recently put in place a new rule: Companies with over 100 employees must mandate their workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly testing. This policy could threaten the freedoms of millions of people of faith in the workplace.
First Liberty Institute, on behalf of three prominent national religious ministries—Daystar Television Network, the American Family Association and Answers in Genesis—has filed lawsuits asking two federal appellate courts to review the rule.
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First Liberty Institute sent a letter to Santa Cruz County, California health officials urging them to allow our client, St. Abraham’s Classical Christian Academy, to safely reopen for fall classes. The State of California allows schools to open their classrooms for a number of purposes including childcare, but places restrictions on opening for in-person instruction with the same number of students. The county has also threatened to refuse to allow schools to open—even if state guidelines would allow reopening.
Stephanie Taub, FLI Senior Counsel, commented: “The experts at the CDC have concluded that in-person schooling is in the best interests of students. Therefore, the County of Santa Cruz should not stand in the way of parents who simply want to follow the CDC’s recommendations for their children.” She further warns: “Barring schools from teaching students who are safely allowed on campus will not withstand strict scrutiny if a legal action is brought against the county.”
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Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) in Washington, DC believes that meeting together is what makes a church a church. On September 22, 2020 the church filed a lawsuit through WilmerHale LLP and First Liberty Institute seeking the ability to hold outdoor church services in the District of Columbia while masked and socially-distanced. On October 9, 2020, the United States Court for the District of Columbia granted CHBC a preliminary injunction, enjoining the DC government from prohibiting such a gathering.
Hiram Sasser, Executive General Counsel at First Liberty said, “All Capitol Hill Baptist Church has asked is for equal treatment under the law so they could meet together safely as a church. We are thankful the court granted that equal treatment.”
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On September 4th, 2020, First Liberty secured another key victory protecting religious schools from discrimination in Texas. This latest victory now allows Calvary Christian School of Excellence in Cameron County, TX to reopen for in-person classes.
Cameron County officials initially issued an order prohibiting the school from reopening, but quickly relented after swift action from First Liberty pointing out that such an order was inconsistent with the Constitution, federal and state law.
“We are pleased that Cameron County has approved of the careful work Calvary Christian School has put into safely resuming in-person classes,” said Jeremy Dys, FLI Special Counsel for Litigation & Communications. “As TX AG Ken Paxton made clear, local officials serve their community best by respecting the freedom of religious institutions.”
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First Liberty Institute sent a letter to officials in Cameron County, TX, informing them that our client, Laguna Madre Christian Academy, would re-open on Aug. 31 in accordance with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s guidance regarding religious schools and their rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local officials had previously told LMCA officials that they would not be allowed to re-open, despite AG Paxton’s guidance on the issue. Fortunately, the county relented and will not stop Laguna Madre from reopening as it planned.
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The U.S. Navy has “righted the ship” for religious freedom in the military, reversing its policy which previously prohibited active duty service members from attending any indoor church or religious services.
We are immensely grateful to Acting Undersecretary Slavonic and Navy leadership for righting this ship, and to Commander-in-Chief Trump for making religious liberty a priority. Thanks to this policy revision, tens of thousands of our brave service members will now be able to safely and freely exercise their religious beliefs.
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First Liberty was recently called upon to stand with Ken Ham—CEO of Answers in Genesis, the Creation Museum, and the Ark Encounter in Kentucky—as they had an unfortunate “encounter” of their own with the outrageous wave of religious discrimination affecting churches, houses of worship, and religious organizations all over the country.
Even though many shops and businesses in Kentucky were beginning to reopen, Ken Ham’s organization was not allowed to do so—leaving hundreds of furloughed employees out of work.
As Ken puts it “We should have been free to open—but there was no reopening allowed for a religious organization like ours.”
So just like numerous other churches and religious organizations across the country, Answers in Genesis made First Liberty their first call—and thankfully, both the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter were able to open shortly thereafter.
First Liberty scored a major victory for people of faith and in-person church services. U.S. District Court Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove granted our request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear from enforcing his order that prohibits in-person church services and threatens criminal penalties.
The court’s order stated that “the prohibition on religious services presently operating in the Commonwealth is ‘beyond what was reasonably required for the safety of the public.’” “If social distancing is good enough for Home Depot and Kroger, it is good enough for in-person religious services which, unlike the foregoing, benefit from constitutional protection.”
Now churches like our client Tabernacle Baptist of Nicholasville, Kentucky will be able to gather in-person in a manner consistent with social distancing guidelines issued by the CDC and Governor Beshear’s March 25 order.
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First Liberty Institute and the North Creek Law Firm represented Joshua Freed at a hearing to challenge Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s ban on religious gatherings of any size in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the hearing, attorneys for Governor Inslee acknowledged that home-based Bible studies and prayer meetings are permissible, and that the Governor will not enforce the rules against home Bible studies on a one-on-one basis.
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First Liberty secured a critical victory for On Fire Christian Church in Louisville, KY. FLI’s attorneys reached a settlement with the city mayor that will allow On Fire to continue hosting CDC-compliant drive-in services.
This critical first win was “the lawsuit heard across the nation” amidst the current COVID-19 crisis, and we believe it will become THE seminal case for protecting our Constitutional right to freely live out our faith moving forward.
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It’s not often that a lawsuit results in victory the very same day it’s filed. However, that is exactly what happened in Greenville, Mississippi, and this victory is a major milestone for religious liberty in this difficult time.
First Liberty Institute filed a federal lawsuit against Greenville’s Mayor, Errick Simmons, on behalf of our client, King James Bible Baptist Church (KJBBC) seeking to stop his unconstitutional order from prohibiting CDC-compliant drive-in church services. Later the same day, Mayor Simmons announced that he was rescinding his order, and allowing drive-in church services to operate free of government interference (provided that they continued adhering to proper CDC guidelines).
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In another crucial victory, county officials in Chemung County, NY stated they will once again respect drive-in church services. The change came about a day after First Liberty Institute sent the county executive a letter explaining that its previous stay-at-home policy was inconsistent with the Constitution, federal law, and CDC guidelines.
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On March 27, the Mayor of the City of Frisco, Texas ordered all Frisco residents to stay at home except to perform essential activities. The Mayor’s declaration specifically prohibited religious services except by video or teleconference and limited in-person staff providing such services to no more than ten people.
In response to First Liberty’s letter explaining that its previous stay-at-home order was inconsistent with the Constitution, federal, and state law, city officials in Frisco, Texas updated their policy to allow religious services that are consistent with the CDC’s 15-day guidelines and Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order.
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First Liberty Institute urged city officials in McKinney, Texas to alter its mandatory stay-at-home orders to apply equally to churches. Under its current order, churches are subject to limitations not applied to businesses and other entities.
After receiving First Liberty’s letter, City officials amended their policy to allow religious services by video or teleconference, or by other means that comply with the CDC’s guidelines for social distancing.
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