Martinez’s Unanswered Question: The Present State of Religious Organizations' Ability to Exist in Public Universities   Tags: advanced_legal_research  

This guide provides an overview of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, 130 S. Ct. 2971 (2010), and the current state of religious student organizations' ability to exist on school campuses.  Particularly, this guide focuses on a public university’s authority to restrict the recognition of religious student organizations for purposes of access to school funding and facilities through the guise of the school’s nondiscrimination policies. 

Following the Martinez decision, whether a student group can form and select its membership based on religious beliefs in light of such nondiscrimination policies is questionable given the narrow holding of the case.  Therefore, the resources provided in this guide include helpful case law, secondary materials, and Internet resources regarding the limited public forum in which the constitutional rights of post-secondary student organizations are analyzed. Additionally, constitutional and statutory provisions are included to provide context to the procedural basis for suing a public university over denied recognition.  This guide is intended to assist attorneys with little or no familiarity with this subject matter in gaining a better understanding of the relevant law. 

This research guide is a starting point for a law student or an attorney to research the implications of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez and related precedent regarding the limited public forum doctrine and religious freedom.  Because case law continues to evolve, it is imperative to Shepardize or KeyCite all cases and statutes before relying on them.  This guide should not be considered as legal advice or as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances.  If you need further assistance in researching this topic or have specific legal questions, please contact a reference librarian in the Georgia State University College of Law library or consult an attorney.

Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, 130 S. Ct. 2971 (2010), is an important decision by the Supreme Court involving the rights of a public university’s student organizations.  Specifically, the Court, through a 5-4 vote, upheld the policy of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law governing official recognition of student groups.  The law school’s policy required student groups to accept all students regardless of their status or beliefs in order to obtain recognition.  However, the Court’s dissent argued that the majority opinion ignored the evidence that the law school’s “accept-all-comers” policy was merely announced as a pretext to justify viewpoint discrimination against one of the law school’s student organizations, the Christian Legal Society (CLS).

The controversy surrounding the case involved the CLS’s requirement that all members subscribe to a “Statement of Faith” affirming their belief in fundamental Christian doctrines, including the view that sexual activity should not occur outside of marriage between a man and woman.  As a result of this exclusive selection process for membership, Hastings denied the CLS’s recognition as a student organization.  The CLS then sued, arguing that the group’s First Amendment rights had been violated.

Even though the majority opinion ruled against the CLS, there were many questions left unanswered involving how far constitutionally-protected speech rights extend to college students at public universities.  Additionally, because the lower court later ruled that the CLS failed to preserve its appeal on the remanded the issue of whether Hastings selectively enforced the “accept-all-comers” policy, the facts of the case as described by the dissent have yet to be resolved.  Accordingly, in order to predict how future cases will be decided, an understanding of current precedent surrounding religious student organizations’ constitutional rights in a quasi-school setting is needed.

Russell Britt will graduate from the Georgia State University College of Law in December, 2011.  While in law school, Mr. Britt served as an associate editor on the Georgia State University Law Review and was member of the school’s Moot Court Board.  Prior to attending law school, Mr. Britt graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in History.  After graduation, he will begin working for a law firm in Atlanta, Georgia.  For more information, please contact Professor Nancy Johnson via e-mail at njohnson@gsu.edu.