FRC to Mobilize Coalition Effort in U.S. Supreme Court Religious Liberty Case

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Research Council announced today that the organization is coordinating a nationwide support effort for the State of Utah in the case Davenport v. American Atheists, one of the most important religious liberty cases to be offered to the U.S. Supreme Court in decades.

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Today, lawyers representing the State of Utah filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit that held any stand-alone cross on public land is automatically an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity in violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. Utah is being represented by Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, and the lawyers are led by two law partners who co-chair the firm's Supreme Court practice group: former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, and accomplished appellate attorney Allyson Ho.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins stated:

"As a veteran of the Marine Corps, I am profoundly disappointed that a federal appeals court would issue a decision that if upheld would require the U.S. government to uproot every headstone in Arlington National Cemetery bearing a cross. This decision must be reversed."

Ken Klukowski, who as Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council will be coordinating support for the case, adds:

"Utah correctly argues that roadside crosses commemorating police officers are not an endorsement of religion. Moreover, we encourage the Supreme Court to take this opportunity to overrule the 'endorsement test,' which has proven to be so unworkable and deeply flawed that it is unsalvageable as a legal rule. The Establishment Clause does not forbid government actions that appear to be a religious endorsement. Instead, the Establishment Clause forbids government from coercing citizens to support religion. If there is no coercion, there is no constitutional violation. The Supreme Court erred when it adopted the 'endorsement test' in 1989, and it's time for the Supreme Court to correct that error, significantly restoring religious liberty."

The State of Utah permits the Utah Highway Patrol Association (UHPA) to commemorate patrolmen who die in the line of duty by erecting a roadside cross at the site of the tragedy with the patrolman's name and badge number. A militant atheist organization, American Atheists, Inc., sued the State of Utah in federal court for allowing UHPA to erect these crosses.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and his office made the decision to retain national appellate powerhouse Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP to help represent the State of Utah in petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to take this case. The Utah Highway Patrol Association is represented separately by the Alliance Defense Fund.

SOURCE Family Research Council