A short update on some of our most important ongoing cases:

Does v. Enfield Public Schools / Does v. School District of Elmbrook

We are currently litigating two cases against public-school districts that have been holding their high-school graduations in Evangelical Christian mega-churches. In each case, the graduation ceremonies have taken place in the intensely religious environment of a church sanctuary, where students have received their diplomas underneath a giant cross. 

In one case, against a Connecticut school district, a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the district’s 2010 graduations from proceeding at the church. We have asked that court to make that injunction permanent, covering future graduations. 

In the other case, against a Wisconsin school district, a federal district court ruled against us. After a panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court's decision, the full membership of the Seventh Circuit voted to rehear the case, and we presented oral argument in February.

Mullin v. Sussex County

We have filed suit against Sussex County, Delaware, which for years has opened its County Council meetings with a recitation of the Lord's Prayer. After filing suit, we asked the federal district court in Delaware to issue a preliminary injunction; the County has moved to dismiss the lawsuit. We presented oral argument on both motions in January and await the court's decision.

LaRue v. Colorado Board of Education

We are part of a major legal challenge to a school-voucher program, taking place in Douglas County, Colorado and funded by the state government, that directs millions of dollars to religious schools.

After a three-day trial over the summer, the Denver County Circuit Court ruled that the school-voucher program violated multiple provisions of the Colorado Constitution. Both the state and the school district have appealed the court's decision, and briefing on the appeal is expected to begin this spring.

Galloway v. Town of Greece

We are seeking to prevent the Town Council of Greece, New York from opening its meetings with prayers offered by members of the local clergy. During the ten years in which the council has held the prayers, all but four of the invited clergy have been Christian.

After the federal district court in New York granted summary judgment to the council, we appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. We argued the case before the appeals court in September and are awaiting a decision.