After Further Review, Good News on Southworth…

In the special news alert you received last week, I promised that I would provide you with more detailed analysis of last week’s decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh District in the case of Southworth v. The University of Wisconsin.

After studying the decision, I can now report the following:

The court ruled that aspects of the University of Wisconsin’s student fee system remained unconstitutional and it did not vindicate the university’s position on mandatory student fees that we have opposed for years.

The university had argued that it should not have to make any changes in its policy to protect the rights of students forced to pay mandatory student activity fees to fund groups opposed to their personal beliefs. In fact, because of the litigation in Southworth, the university changed many discriminatory policies. However, in this case, the university was hoping that the court would rule that it could return to its previous policy that discriminated against Christians and Christian groups. The previous policy denied funding to religious groups. On that point, the university lost.

Interestingly, the court upheld portions of the university’s policy that had been changed only after the ADF-funded litigation. As a result, here’s where things now stand:

• Student government members must vow not to discriminate on the basis of viewpoint in their decision-making.
• The ban on funding religious groups and political groups has been repealed.
• The university established an appeals process for groups denied funding.
• When the student government denies funding to an applicant group, the student government must record the vote and state in writing why they denied funding to a group.

The key point is that if the university does not follow these guidelines imposed by the court, students cannot be required to pay the mandatory student activity fee.

These very positive changes in the university’s policy were only made possible because of your prayers and support that allowed ADF and Scott Southworth to remain in the fight. Now, please pray as we take these changes to the many other public campuses that are discriminating against Christian ministries. The battle is not over. Thank you!

ADF on Dr. Laura!
ADF was mentioned prominently on the October 3rd “Dr. Laura” program. Dr. Laura was discussing a lawsuit recently filed by ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull on behalf of the free speech rights of pro-life students at the University of Texas. You can hear what Dr. Laura has to say by going to www.drlaura.com, and after logging in and creating a password, you can click on the date you want to listen to.
 

PRAYER REQUESTS
“Without Me, You Can Do Nothing,” – John 15:5

1. Please pray for wisdom in the many legal battles ahead.
2. Please pray for ADF’s fourteenth National Litigation Academy, which will be held in two weeks. Pray that the Lord will be preparing the hearts and minds of the men and women who will be attending.