The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the U.S. Constitution on Wednesday – and upheld a lower court’s decision–when it ruled that the University of Wisconsin-Madison unconstitutionally discriminated against a religious student group by withholding funding.
Asserting the “separation of church and state,” the university had refused to fund Badger Catholic, a student-led organization, because its events included prayer and worship.
The university, however, chose to fund other sectarian groups, such as the Jewish Cultural Collective, as well as secular groups including Sex Out Loud, which “counseled” students how to engage in “‘healthy sexuality,” how to be a “critical consumer of porn,” etc.
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which representing Badger Catholic, formerly known as the Roman Catholic Foundation, argued that the university was guilty of viewpoint discrimination.
The court agreed and ruled that the university violated the First Amendment rights of the group. Dispensing fees to Badger Catholic group did not impart an endorsement of religion.
In its majority opinion, the panel concluded that:
“The University of Wisconsin is not propagating its own message; it has created a public forum where the students, not the University, decide what is to be said. And having created a public forum, the University must honor the private choice…. (A) university cannot shape Badger Catholic’s message by selectively funding the speech it approves, but not the speech it disapproves. Once it creates a public forum, a university must accept all comers within the forum’s scope.”
Interestingly, the court noted the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez served to only reaffirm its decision:
“There can be no doubt after Christian Legal Society that the University’s activity-fee fund must cover Badger Catholic’s six contested programs, if similar programs that espouse a secular perspective are reimbursed,” the court wrote.
Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for ADF, was pleased with the ruling, which was a long time in coming.
“The constitutional rights of Christian student organizations should be recognized by university officials just as they recognize those rights for other student groups,” Lorence. “The university funded the advocacy and expression of other student organizations but singled out Badger Catholic for exclusion based purely upon its viewpoint. The 7th Circuit rightly regarded this as unconstitutional.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read the court decision, Badger Catholic, Inc. v. Walsh.
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