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Churches are protected by the First Amendment from government intrusion in their doctrines, their finances and hiring practices.
That “church autonomy doctrine” doesn’t just protect religions. It also stops courts from being swamped by lawsuits asking judges to make decisions about church teachings.
So when a former member sued The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seeking a narrower definition of those protections, a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of religious traditions sprang into action.
The religious liberty law firm, Becket, filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals last year. The brief asked the court’s three-judge panel hearing the case to rule in favor of the Church of Jesus Christ to protect both Latter-day Saints and other faiths.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the church on Tuesday, and the church released a statement that thanked Becket and another group that filed briefs on its behalf.
“The church expresses its gratitude to those of other faiths and organizations that filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the church’s position,” church spokesman Sam Penrod said.
Laura Gaddy’s lawsuit — she was joined by others — initially asked federal district court Judge Robert Shelby to “adjudicate the truth or falsity” of church beliefs, Shelby wrote when he dismissed the lawsuit in 2023.
“To adjudicate those claims as plaintiffs have pleaded them,” Shelby wrote, “would require the court to determine whether the religious teachings, beliefs and facts surrounding them that plaintiffs allege are misrepresentations are, in fact, false. For reasons this court has explained, that inquiry is barred by the religion clauses” (of the First Amendment).
Gaddy appealed Shelby’s decision to the 10th Circuit.
Becket then filed its brief asking the judges to follow Supreme Court precedents about the First Amendment and churches’ rights to self-governance.
Three attorneys submitted the brief for Becket. One was Becket vice president and senior counsel Eric C. Rassbach. The others were Samuel V. Lioi and Noel J. Francisco from the law firm Jones Day.
One of the governing precedents they invoked was a 1944 Supreme Court ruling called United States v. Ballard.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has long held,” the Becket briefers wrote, quoting the Ballard decision, “that the judiciary cannot decide ‘the truth or verity of … religious doctrines.’"
In fact, the Supreme Court in Ballard ruled that “[m]en may believe what they cannot prove” and churches “may not be put to the proof of their religious doctrines or beliefs.”
The Becket team said that placed Gaddy’s challenge out of bounds.
“Plaintiffs’ challenge to the church’s teaching regarding its scripture and origins is the epitome of a claim barred by the church autonomy doctrine,” the brief said.
Finally, Becket’s brief warned the court that a ruling that narrowed church self-governance would flood courts with challenges about issues that the First Amendment and courts long ago said belong to religions and not the government and courts.
“From its extensive experience protecting religious liberty for a variety of faith groups, Becket believes that adopting plaintiffs’ exceedingly narrow view of the church autonomy doctrine would not only endanger those protections, but would likely lead to the judiciary being regularly entangled in religious decisionmaking,” the brief said.
Becket also used a statement written by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch quoting James Madison.
“In this country, we would not subscribe to the ‘arrogant pretension’ that secular officials may serve as ‘competent Judge[s] of Religious truth,’” Gorsuch wrote in a 2022 opinion.
Rassbach issued a statement for Becket after the 10th Circuit ruled Tuesday in favor of the Church of Jesus Christ.
“This unanimous ruling is a decisive victory for religious freedom and for church autonomy. The 10th Circuit made clear that churches — not judges — get to decide what they teach and how they govern themselves without being dragged into court," said Rassback, who also is a visiting professor and executive director of the Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Religious Liberty Clinic at Pepperdine’s law school.
“That’s a win for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for the right of all faith groups to operate free from government meddling.”
To read the full Becket brief, click here.
A second brief in support of the church was filed by the National Association of Evangelicals, the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. I noted this in my original story about the ruling.
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