NYC’s Yeshiva U Files Emergency Application with SCOTUS to Keep Religious Autonomy
Edited by: TJVNews.com
An iconic institution of higher learning in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan is that of Yeshiva University. As a university that was predicated on both Torah and secular studies, it has achieved national ranking for its wide variety of rigorous academic curriculum as well as its cultural, religious and sports programming.
On Monday, however, Yeshiva University was compelled to file an emergency application in the Supreme Court in an urgent effort to maintain its religious autonomy, as was reported by NationalReview.com. (Yeshiva’s application is, in the alternative, a petition for writ of certiorari and stay.)
At issue here is YU’s freedom to maintain its religious mandates and tone and as such is requesting that the court block a ruling that would force it to officially recognize an LGBTQ club on campus. Yeshiva U has said that recognizing the proposed club called the YU Pride Alliance stands in diametric opposition to the religious beliefs held by the university.
Three former and one current student want the school to formally recognize the LGBTQ advocacy club. The club is expected to host events such as school-sponsored LGBTQ “shabbatons” and LGBTQ-themed Shalach manos during the fall semester, as was reported by NationalReview.com.
CourtHouseNews.com reported that Eric Baxter, an attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, wrote in the school’s application before the court. He said: “Yeshiva has determined, based on consultation with its Roshei Yeshiva — who opine on Jewish law for Jews all over the world — that an official Pride Alliance club, as described by Plaintiffs and as understood by the culture at large, would be inconsistent with Yeshiva’s religious environment and Torah values.”
Baxter continued: “If Yeshiva is forced to comply, the infringement of its religious liberty, and injury to its reputation as a bastion of Torah values and flagship Jewish university, will be irreparable. A stay to maintain the status quo is thus essential in aid of the Court’s jurisdiction.”
“Here, a New York state court told a deeply religious Jewish university how it must resolve a plainly religious question: whether recognizing a Pride Alliance student club is consistent with Yeshiva’s sincere religious beliefs and Torah values,” Baxter added, according to the CourtHouseNews.com report.
The school also claims the ruling violates the Free Exercise Clause by forcing it to abandon its religious decisions.
“Under this Court’s precedent, laws that burden sincere religious beliefs and are not ‘neutral’ and ‘of general application’ are subject to strict constitutional scrutiny,” Baxter wrote.
The emergency filing — which was submitted to Justice Sonia Sotomayor — asks the court to halt a ruling from a trial court in New York before the state appeals court has weighed the merits of the case. Baxter said the court could also alternatively consider the application as a petition for writ of certiorari to grant the school relief, according to the CourtHouseNews.com report. Yeshiva U claims urgency is necessary since the school’s fall semester has already begun, as has the application process for the club.
Yeshiva U explains in its application:
“Yeshiva is the world’s premier Torah-based institution of higher education. In Hebrew, the word “yeshiva” literally means a school for studying Talmud. All Yeshiva undergraduate students are required to engage intense religious studies, with many receiving up to four and a half hours of Talmud instruction each day. And the entire undergraduate experience is designed to form students in the Jewish faith: the laws of Shabbat and Kashrut are strictly observed on campus; there are separate men’s and women’s campuses; students are expected to dress and behave consistently with Torah values; the campuses are adorned with religious imagery and symbolism; and the affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary is integrated into the men’s undergraduate campus and programs. Yeshiva has determined, based on consultation with its Roshei Yeshiva—who opine on Jewish law for Jews all over the world—that an official Pride Alliance club, as described by Plaintiffs and as understood by the culture at large, would be inconsistent with Yeshiva’s religious environment and Torah values.
Yeshiva compellingly argues that the lower court’s order tramples its First Amendment autonomy as a religious institution. In addition, the ruling against Yeshiva “deepens an existing split” over how the Free Exercise precedent of Employment Division v. Smith (1990) applies: i.e., “whether the existence of comparable categorical exemptions suffices to negate general applicability under Smith.”
Yeshiva claims that being forced to recognize Pride Alliance violates church autonomy — something rooted in the religion clauses of the First Amendment.
Yeshiva compellingly argues that the lower court’s order tramples its First Amendment autonomy as a religious institution, as was reported by NationalReview.com. In addition, the ruling against Yeshiva “deepens an existing split” over how the Free Exercise precedent of Employment Division v. Smith (1990) applies: i.e., “whether the existence of comparable categorical exemptions suffices to negate general applicability under Smith.”
