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ACLU Cases Defending Religious Freedom The ACLU and Freedom of Religion and Belief CASES > Case: Moreno v. Ector County School Board > Victory: The Challenge to Intelligent Design > Litigation: The Mt. Soledad Cross

The right of each and every American to practice his or her own religion (or no religion at all), is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The American Civil Liberties Union’s long history of working to ensure that religious liberty is protected goes as far back as the Scopes trial of 1925. Long before other groups appeared on the scene to argue for religious freedom, the ACLU was arguing on behalf of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ right not to be compelled against their beliefs to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (as an amicus in the famous West Virginia v. Barnette case of 1943). The ACLU has been involved in a long series of prominent cases – under both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause – that have argued against government interference in the religious sphere, including, e.g., Engel v. Vitale (1962), Abington v. Schempp (1963), Epperson v. Arkansas (1968), Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), Allegheny County v. ACLU (1989), Employment Division v. Smith (1990), Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000), and ACLU of Kentucky v. McCreary (2005). More recently the ACLU of Pennsylvania, with Americans United, successfully challenged the Dover, Pennsylvania, attempt to promote so-called “intelligent design” in public schools.

The ACLU launched its new Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief in 2005 to coordinate the broad range of issues coming under the rubric of religion. The Program now has five staff members, including three experienced attorneys, who work to promote and safeguard constitutionally protected freedoms of religion and belief through First Amendment litigation, public education, and community outreach.
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Military Reverses Bible Distribution Policy At Induction Centers (12/18/2008)
WASHINGTON – In a move that will help protect the religious freedom of new inductees, the U.S. military reversed its policy of giving preferential access to some religious groups to provide literature to new recruits. Some induction centers, known as Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS), have granted Gideons International special access to military recruits in order to provide Bibles and religious messages on the day of their induction. MEPS facilities process incoming recruits for the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard.

ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit To Protect Religious Liberty Of New Jersey Prisoner (12/03/2008)
TRENTON, NJ – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a New Jersey prisoner, an ordained Pentecostal minister, who is asking the state to respect his religious freedom by restoring his right to preach.

ACLU Secures Religious Freedom For Muslim Prisoners At Wyoming State Penitentiary (11/20/2008)
RAWLINS, WY – The American Civil Liberties Union has struck an agreement with officials at the Wyoming State Penitentiary that will allow Muslim prisoners to maintain their religious practices and beliefs while still being able to eat daily meals.

Court Showdown Averted as Town Allows Homeless Ministry to Resume Operations (11/19/2008)
Pittsburgh – This morning U.S. District Chief Judge Donetta Ambrose signed an order allowing the First Apostles' Doctrine Church to resume housing homeless people as part of its ministry. The Borough of Brookville and the church reached an agreement late yesterday, averting an emergency court hearing scheduled for this afternoon.

Bush Administration Blocks Medical Services For Immigrant Teens In U.S. Care (11/17/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to order the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to release documents outlining U.S. policy limiting refugee and undocumented teenagers' access to important reproductive health services, including contraceptives and abortion. The ACLU filed today's legal papers after ACF ignored a Freedom of Information Act request from the ACLU dated August 19, 2008.

ACLUF v. Department of Health and Human Services, et al. - Complaint for Injunctive Relief (11/17/2008)

In re Texas Department of Family & Protective Services - Brief Of Amici Curiae In Opposition To Relator's Petition For Mandamus (05/29/2008)

Jason and Jennifer O'Neill Compalint for Declaratory Judgment to Confirm the Validity of Their Marriage (02/26/2008)

February 27, 2007 ACLU of Virginia Letter to Governor Kaine (02/27/2007)
February 27, 2007 ACLU of Virginia Letter to Governor Kaine

Complaint in Stanley v West Virginia (09/19/2006)

Coalition Sign-On Letter Opposing the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (05/15/2008)

Coalition Letter to Senate regarding "Creation Science" Earmark (10/10/2007)
Dear Senator: We, the undersigned religious, civil rights, education, science, and advocacy organizations write to urge you to remove an earmark from the Fiscal Year 2008 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill’s Committee Report. The Fund for Improvement of Education, under Title III, contains an earmark for uses that, if funded, would be blatantly unconstitutional. The earmark would fund curriculum that promotes teaching creationism in the science classroom, even though uniformly prohibited by federal courts.

SUPPORT BIPARTISAN REAUTHORIZATION OF HEAD START BY OPPOSING ANY ATTEMPT TO REPEAL THIRTY-FIVE YEAR OLD CIVIL RIGHTS PROVISION (04/20/2007)
We, the undersigned religious, civil rights, labor, education, health, and advocacy organizations urge you to support H.R. 1429, bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the Head Start program, and to oppose any attempt to repeal longstanding critical civil rights protections. As reported out of the House Committee on Education and Labor on a 42-1 bipartisan vote, H.R. 1429 keeps in place a 35-year old civil rights provision that protects over 213,000 Head Start teachers and staff and over 1,360,000 parent volunteers from employment discrimination based on religion in federally-funded positions in Head Start programs.

Oppose Any Attempt to Repeal Longstanding Civil Rights Protections in Head Start (04/19/2007)
On behalf of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition, with more than 190 member organizations, we urge you to support H.R. 1429, the Improving Head Start Act of 2007, and oppose any attempt on the House floor to repeal longstanding civil rights protections in the Head Start Program that have been in place since President Nixon signed the law in 1972. We strongly oppose any language that would allow federally funded employment discrimination.* If language repealing civil rights protections is added to the bill either during consideration on the House floor or in the Motion to Recommit, we urge you to oppose final passage of the bill.

Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty Letter Urging Opposition to the "Public Expression of Religion Act" (09/05/2006)

MEPS Policy Allowing Equal Access to Facilities (12/18/2008)

ACLU Statement On Texas Appellate Court Decision Regarding Yearning For Zion Ranch (05/22/2008)

ACLU Statement On The Government's Actions Regarding The Yearning For Zion Ranch In Eldorado, Texas (05/02/2008)

ACLU of Maryland Letter to Vice Admiral Jeffrey L. Fowler, United States Naval Academy (05/02/2008)

Christmas and the ACLU (12/13/2007)

Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation (02/02/2007)
Reviewing a challenge to a Supreme Court ruling that, for forty years, has allowed taxpayers to seek a federal court injunction against government expenditures in violation of the Establishment Clause. DECIDED