Church-State Separation & the Courts

Americans United’s Legal Department defends church-state separation by going to court on behalf of people whose religious-freedom rights have been violated; by contacting school districts, municipalities, and state and federal agencies to resolve constitutional violations without litigation; and by contributing our expertise through friend-of-the-court briefs in cases nationwide.

Our Litigation

Read more about our legal cases

We’ve Been Securing Religious Freedom in the Courts for Decades

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  • 2022
    Easter v. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Our lawsuit caused a religious foster-care agency to stop discriminating against a lesbian woman who wanted to foster refugee children.
  • 2019
    Challenges to Trump Administration “Denial of Care” Rule: We blocked a Trump Administration regulation that would allow healthcare providers and employees to use their religious or moral beliefs as a basis to refuse to assist patients.
  • 2015
    LaRue v. Douglas County School District: We ended a Colorado school district’s use of private-school vouchers to fund religious schools.
  • 2005
    Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District: We stopped a public school district’s effort to teach intelligent-design creationism in science class.
  • 2002
    Glassroth v. Moore: We blocked Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s attempt to display a religious monument in the state judicial building.

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BREAKING!

We’re suing to stop Christian Nationalists from creating religious public charter schools

Okla. is violating the separation of church and state by creating the nation’s 1st religious charter school. If we don’t stop them, religious public schools like this could appear in states around the country. Join the fight:

Join the Fight