Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that colleges are free to force Christian student groups to accept atheists or homosexualists in leadership positions, even if the intent of the dissidents is to destroy the organization.
UPDATE 3/23/12: Supreme Court Forces Atheists into Christian Clubs
UPDATE 6/16/14: Intolerance of Christian Clubs Now Rampant on College Campuses
UPDATE 6/29/10: Conservative Groups Blast Supreme Court’s Erosion of Religious Liberty
For background, read Christian College Clubs Must Accept Atheists?
-- From "Supreme Court rules against UC student group that excluded gays" by Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times 6/28/10
A University of California law school's refusal to give official student group status to a Christian society that excluded gays was a reasonable application of the school's nondiscrimination policy, the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday in a 5-4 ruling.
The Christian Legal Society chapter had sued UC Hastings College of Law, arguing that denial of school recognition and of access to state funding and facilities violated the group's 1st and 14th Amendment rights to free speech, expressive association and the free exercise of religion.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in dissent that the majority ruling amounted to "no freedom for expression that offends prevailing standards of political correctness in our country's institutions of higher learning."
Alito, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, noted that Hastings has more than 60 registered student groups and that in its entire history has denied registration to "exactly one: the Christian Legal Society." Alito said the majority gave public educational institutions "a handy weapon for suppressing the speech of unpopular groups."
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From "Martinez Ruling a 'Serious Setback for Freedom of Expression'" by Chuck Donovan, posted at The Heritage Foundation 6/28/10
CLS v. Martinez case is narrow in a number of respects, but its thrust is worrisome for many reasons. The case involves a decision by a public law school, the Hastings College of the Law, to deny official recognition and potential funding to a student organization, the local chapter of the Christian Legal Society. The Supreme Court ruled that Hastings did not violate the free speech rights of CLS by refusing to recognize it on the grounds that it requires its members and officers to sign a Statement of Faith and affirm a Christian standard of sexual conduct.
. . . The very idea of expressive association – of clusters of students coming together to advance their particular legal views, social ideas, or religious commitments – would be a nullity if law school administrations could insist that every group must be equally open to those who share its beliefs and those who oppose them. Smaller organizations would be particularly vulnerable to being overwhelmed by a majority of dissident students if an organization were prohibited from having a mission and bonding its members to that mission.
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