Americans United filed a motion in February in Rutan-Ram v. Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, asking a Tennessee court to grant summary judgment in favor of Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram, a Knox County couple turned away by a taxpayer-funded, faith-based foster care agency because the couple is Jewish. The motion explained that the Rutan-Rams were, and will continue to be, harmed by a state law that allows foster care agencies providing taxpayer-funded services to discriminate against prospective parents who don’t share the agency’s religious beliefs.
A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee had previously ruled that the Rutan-Rams have the right to proceed with their case, reversing a trial-court ruling that they did not have standing — the right to sue — as prospective foster parents and as taxpayers. The appeals court panel also allowed four other Tennessee taxpayers who object to their tax dollars being used to fund religious discrimination in foster care to proceed as plaintiffs.
The Tennessee Supreme Court in May 2024 denied the state’s application for review, paving the way for the Rutan-Rams’ case to finally proceed on the merits in the trial court.
“It is an injustice to families like ours and to the hundreds of children in need of loving homes that Tennessee continues to fund foster care agencies that discriminate against Jews and other religious minorities,” said the Rutan-Rams. “It’s not right that our tax dollars are financing a system that forced us to take years longer to adopt a child and continues to provide us with unequal services — all because of our religious beliefs.”
“This loving couple wanted to help a child in need, only to be told they wouldn’t be served by a taxpayer-funded agency because they’re the wrong religion. We urge the court to affirm that religious freedom is not a license to discriminate and that what happened to Liz and Gabe violates the Tennessee Constitution’s promise of church-state separation,” said AU President and CEO Rachel Laser.