Constitutional Law

Divided 7th Circuit: Univ. of Wis. must fund student religious group

By By The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. ? A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that the University of Wisconsin-Madison must pay for student activities involving prayer, worship and religious counseling.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 yesterday that the university's policy of turning down funding requests from student groups for such activities violates their First Amendment right to free speech.

The case was brought by the Roman Catholic Foundation, now known as Badger Catholic.

The university had argued that awarding student fees to the group that runs evangelical training camps and hosts spiritual retreats is a violation of the separation of church and state.

But the 7th Circuit majority found in Badger Catholic, Inc. v. Walsh that subsidizing the activities does not amount to an illegal endorsement of religion.

Writing for the majority, Judge Frank Easterbrook said that a long line of Supreme Court precedent ? reinforced by the Court?s decision last term in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez ? stands for the principle that a university cannot discriminate against religious speakers based on their viewpoint.

?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,? he wrote.

Judge Ann Claire Williams disagreed with the majority, finding that the university was not discriminating against Badger Catholic for its particular religious viewpoint but merely excluding university funds for all forms of worship.

?Here, there is no equivalent secular speech funded,? she wrote. ?To exclude purely religious activities is a categorical, neutral exclusion.?

First Amendment Center Online staff contributed to this report.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on September 01, 2010 (boomark / email).