Page 17 - CLT062220

NEWS JUNE 22, 2020 ¦ 17

and Gerald Bostock was what
the law means, the question in
these next cases is when and
whether the law matters,” Rose
Saxe, deputy director of the
ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project,
said in a blog post Wednesday.
The win for LGBT rights in the
workplace, Saxe continued, “is
fragile and will be eroded if the
court furthers the agenda of
the Trump administration by
giving anyone who objects on
religious grounds a free pass to
violate the law.”
In the Texas case, the state The pending cases raise questions involving the intersection of religion and
challenges a California law anti-discrimination laws, an issue left unresolved by the justices’ landmark

decision extending workplace anti-bias protections to gay, lesbian and

that prohibits California agen- transgender employees.

cies from approving state-funded or state-sponsored of barring referrals of foster children to that agency
travel to a state that, after June 26, 2015—when the because it refuses, for religious reasons, to license
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in support of gay mar- same-sex couples as foster parents. They argue the
riage—enacted a law that authorizes or requires city’s policy violates their First Amendment free ex-
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, ercise and free speech rights.
gender identify or gender expression. The petition also urges the justices to revisit their
The California attorney general is required to keep 1990 ruling in Employment Division v. Smith. In
a list of states whose actions trigger the restriction that ruling, Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the
on state-funded travel. Eleven states are on the Cali- majority, said the free exercise right does not relieve
fornia list, according to briefs filed in the case. Texas an individual of the obligation to comply with a val-
was included because of a state law that protects fos- id and neutral law of general applicability.
ter-care or adoption agencies that discriminate—for Mark Rienzi of The Becket Fund for Religious
religious reasons—on the basis of sexual orientation Liberty is representing the challengers to the city’s
or gender identity. policy. Gupta Wessler partner Deepak Gupta is
Texas, represented by state solicitor general Kyle counsel to the city. The ACLU’s Leslie Cooper rep-
Hawkins, has argued the California law was born of resents intervenor-respondents Support Center for
religious animus and violates the privileges and im- Child Advocates and Philadelphia Family Pride.
munities, interstate commerce and equal protection More than 30 amicus briefs supporting the chal-
clauses. California deputy solicitor general Samuel lengers have been filed by the Trump administration,
Harbourt countered that the law does not bar any religious and conservative organizations as well as a
commerce or prohibit any travel into or out of number of states. Amicus briefs supporting the city
California; it instead limits what out-of-state travel are not yet due. No date has been announced yet for
California will pay for. “A state’s control over its own the arguments.
public fisc is a core aspect of state sovereignty,” Har- In March, Dignity Health, a Catholic hospital
bourt wrote in urging the justices to reject original represented by Consovoy McCarthy partner Jeffrey
jurisdiction over the dispute. Harris, filed a petition asking the justices to review
In the Philadelphia case, Catholic Social Services a California Court of Appeal decision that rejected
and several foster parents challenge the city’s policy
¦ Continued on PAGE 18

CONNECTICUT
Law Tribune