Alliance Defending Freedom wants the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Youth 71Five Ministries.
ADF is asking the Supreme Court to hear this case because the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the state of Oregon to exclude the ministry from participating in an otherwise available public grant program, simply because the religious organization hires people according to its faith.
"71Five serves at-risk youth in the Oregon area and it does so through employees and volunteers who share its faith and share its mission," ADF attorney Jeremiah Galus told AFN. "Because of that, Oregon excluded it from the grant program."
Galus said that "every religious organization should have the right to hire people who share their faith" and the "government should not be able to penalize a religious organization" just because they're religious or act according to their religious beliefs.
"So, if the state of Oregon can penalize and punish 71Five because it operates according to its faith then any state would be able to do the same," said Galus. "The result would be not just discrimination against religious organizations, but it would inhibit the ability of religious organizations like 71Five from serving their communities. It would help no one, and it would punish religious organizations while also harming the communities that they serve."
