Assembly of Bishops' Religious Freedom Amicus Brief Participation
(Last Updated September 17, 2025)
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops is committed to helping protect the liberty of all Americans to practice their faith.
An amicus ("friend of the court") brief is a legal document submitted to a court by someone not a party to a case to provide additional information or arguments that may be helpful in reaching a decision.
Since 2021, the Assembly has signed onto six amicus briefs with other religious entities of various faith traditions advocating for the protection of religious freedom principles in various courts.
The following are summaries of the cases in which the Assembly has joined amicus briefs.
Damon Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety
Amicus Brief Date: Sept. 3, 2025
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Topic: Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) enforcement provisions
Issue: Whether persons whose religious rights under RLUIPA are violated may sue government officials for damages to enforce their rights
Case Summary: Congress enacted two “sister” statutes to protect religious exercise: the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). RLUIPA protects religious land uses from discrimination through zoning restrictions and offers protection for the religious rights of prisoners.
In prior cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that parties may sue government officials in their individual capacity for damages for violations of RFRA. But so far, RLUIPA has not been interpreted to provide that same right.
In this case, the plaintiff prisoner’s hair was forcibly cut by prison officials in violation of his Rastafarian religion. The amicus brief requests the Supreme Court provide inmates the same right to seek damages from government officials under RLUIPA as is available under RFRA. This is an important tool to protect the rights of religious persons in prisons and religious organizations in land-use cases.
Disposition: Awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review this case.
First Choice Women's Resource Centers v. Platkin
Amicus Brief Date: Aug. 28, 2025
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Topic: Government intrusion in religious organizations’ internal activities
Issue: To what degree can government compel disclosure of internal activities of religious entities; whether aggrieved parties can seek relief in federal court before state court proceedings are exhausted.
Case Summary: First Choice is a pro-life Christian pregnancy center that offers free services to women facing unplanned pregnancies. New Jersey’s Attorney General has criticized such pregnancy centers for not providing abortion services and served an investigatory subpoena on First Choice demanding sensitive internal documents, including donor lists.
First Choice first challenged the subpoena in federal court on free speech and free association grounds. The Attorney General asked the state court to sanction First Choice for not complying with the subpoena. Meanwhile, the federal district court held that First Choice’s constitutional claims were not ripe because they could still be litigated in state court.
The amicus brief argues: First, compelled disclosure of a religious organization’s internal religious activities can threaten its constitutionally protected autonomy. Second, probing a religious organization’s internal operations chills the exercise of First Amendment rights. Third, federal courts serve as much-needed impartial forums to vindicate the rights of religious groups subject to local prejudices.
Disposition: Awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review this case.
Preston Garner v. Southern Baptist Convention
Amicus Brief Date: March 17, 2025; August 27, 2025
Court: Tennessee Supreme Court
Topic: Church autonomy doctrine; defamation
Issue: Does the church autonomy doctrine protect a religious institution’s right to communicate freely about its internal ministerial personnel decisions without state interference?
Case Summary: The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) initiated an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct made against a pastor based on an anonymous report. The pastor sued the SBC for defamation based on the investigation. The Tennessee state appellate court held that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not apply. On Mar. 11, 2025, the Southern Baptist Convention filed an appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Disposition: The Assembly initially joined a brief requesting the Tennessee Supreme Court hear this appeal. After the court agreed to hear the appeal, on August 27, 2025, the Assembly joined a subsequent brief making substantive arguments in the case.
Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission
Amicus Brief Date: Feb. 3, 2025
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Topic: Church autonomy doctrine; church contribution to unemployment tax
Issue: Whether a state violates the First Amendment's religion clauses by denying a religious organization an otherwise-available tax exemption because the organization does not meet the state's criteria for religious behavior.
Case Summary: The Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) sought a religious exemption from Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance program, aiming to join the Wisconsin Bishops’ Church Unemployment Pay Program instead. The Wisconsin Supreme Court denied this request, ruling that CCB’s activities, while motivated by Catholic teachings, were primarily charitable and secular, not religious, because they serve people of all faiths and do not use their services to proselytize.
Disposition: Final Decision -- On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision violates the First Amendment by imposing a denominational preference differentiating between religions based on theological lines. The First Amendment mandates government neutrality between religions and subjects any state-sponsored denominational preference to strict scrutiny. The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision failed the strict scrutiny test.
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod v. Concordia University of Texas
Amicus Brief Date: May 5, 2025
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals of the 5th Cir.
Topic: Church autonomy doctrine; nonprofit incorporation|
Issue: Does the church autonomy doctrine protect a religious body’s own determination and interpretation of internal governing structures?
Case Summary: Concordia University Texas (CTX) amended its governing documents to sever itself from its founding church denomination, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). The court, applying “neutral principles of law,” held that the Synod was an unincorporated association and separate legal entity from the LCMS incorporated entity.
Disposition: Pending -- LCMS filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 24, 2025. No new developments.
Apache Stronghold v. United States
Amicus Brief Date: Oct. 15, 2024
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Topic: Free Exercise of Religion, Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)
Issue: Whether the government substantially burdens religious exercise under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or must satisfy heightened scrutiny under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, when it singles out a sacred religious site for physical destruction.
Case Summary: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2024 refused to stop the federal government from transferring Oak Flat, a sacred native American site, to a private mining company that plans to turn the site into a mining crater, ending Apache religious practices.
Disposition: The Supreme Court conferred on May 2, 2025 about whether to hear the case. The U.S. District Court in Phoenix heard arguments on May 7, 2025 for an emergency injunction filed by Apache Stronghold in response to a letter from the Trump administration to the Supreme Court stating that the administration intended to issue the final environmental impact statement.
On August 21, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a last minute temporary injunction halting the U.S. government from transferring the Oak Flat land to the copper mining company.
O’Connell v. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Amicus Brief Date: Sept. 13, 2024
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia
Topic: Church autonomy doctrine
Issue: Whether the church autonomy doctrine protects religious organizations’ own decisions on use of donated funds from governmental interference.
Case Summary: The plaintiff alleged that Catholic priests misrepresented the allocation of donations collected through the Peter’s Pence fund, a church-run charitable campaign. The USCCB filed a motion to dismiss the case, invoking the church-autonomy doctrine, which protects religious organizations from governmental interference in internal affairs.
Disposition: The USCCB moved to dismiss the case on the ground that the case was barred by the church autonomy doctrine. The D.C. District Court denied the motion on the ground that the plaintiff’s claims raised a purely secular dispute that could be resolved based on neutral principles of law. The court also determined that the church autonomy doctrine provides a defense to liability, but does not provide a blanket immunity from being sued.
The USCCB filed an appeal. On April 25, 2025 the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal at this stage of the case on the ground that there was not a final decision ready for the Court of Appeals to consider, so the parties now need to proceed with the case at the trial level.
No new developments.
Trustees of the New Life in Christ Church v. City of Fredericksburg, Virginia
Amicus Brief Date: Sept. 3, 2021
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Topic: Free exercise of religion, ministerial tax exemption
Issue: Whether civil authorities violate the First Amendment when they engage in their own interpretation of church doctrine to overrule a church’s determination that a particular official is a minister.
Case Summary: The City of Fredericksburg denied real estate tax exemption on the ground that church’s college ministry leaders did not qualify as ministers under the Presbyterian Church in America’s Book of Order.
Disposition: Final decision -- The U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the case on Jan. 18, 2022, thus allowing the City of Fredericksburg’ denial of the property tax exemption for the college ministry leaders to stand.