On April 19, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Christian Legal Society v Martinez. This is not an election law case. But it is a freedom of association case, and all of these cases always impact on the law concerning political parties. Here is SCOTUSBLOG’s analysis of the case.
I doubt that this case will help in terms of ballot access jurisprudence, although I can appreciate the logical connection between associative rights and the expressive rights of third political parties.
It might help the major parties in excluding citizens or prospective primary candidates, but the courts have already extended such rights.
Based on the facts of the case, presented in the blog, I have mixed feelings about how to rule. I can appreciate the desire of the student club to restrict its membership based on subscription to certain beliefs, opinions, etc.
However, I also know the very. very difficult position this puts the administration in resources (what the club wants access to are limited) and it does not take much to step off the emotional heart strings of students on the political left and right…
Will the Supremes screw up the religion part of the 1st Amdt in the case — using PUBLIC property for PRIVATE religion stuff ???
Does the Sun rise in the East and set in the West ???
Um, citizens have a constitutional right to religious expression on public [government] land. That is not really the issue with this case. The argument that religious freedom does not apply on public land is a false one.
The central question is what sort of regulations or rules does a college or University religious club have to follow in exchange for access to student funds, facilities, etc.
The club makes a pretty good argument that the University should not compell them to abandon their own beliefs and force them to accept members who may disagree with said beliefs. Yet, they undermine that argument if they have little problem taking money from the general student population.
Then comes the logical conclusions [consequences] of such a case. If a religious group can be exempt for University/State civil rights laws, then what other laws do not apply to a University club?
Can a club be formed that excludes based on race? Or requires students to use pot or be nudists? Yeah, odd sort of cases but these sorts of issues have to be thought about.