Religious Rivals Unite in Celebration Over Today’s Supreme Court First Amendment Ruling  

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Kate Uesugi, kuesugi@americanhumanist.org, 808-228-6471

(Washington, DC, March 8, 2021) – Today, the American Humanist Association (AHA) celebrates this morning’s Supreme Court’s ruling, Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, alongside typical opponent, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). This ruling upheld (8-1) a critical remedy in First Amendment cases.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for the rule of law itself,” Monica Miller, AHA’s Legal Director and Senior Counsel, remarked. “While we disagree on the proper interpretation of the First Amendment, we joined forces with the ADF because of our shared conviction that First Amendment liberties are meaningless if they cannot be vindicated,” Miller explained.

The AHA was an instrumental force in urging the Supreme Court to take the case and in influencing today’s ruling.  In September and March 2020, AHA filed amicus briefs in support of ADF’s case. “Now is the time to instill confidence in an anxious America and celebrate a constitutional heritage strong enough to unite the likes of the AHA and ADF,” Miller wrote in the AHA’s latest Supreme Court brief.

In a sweeping ruling this morning, eight justices on the Supreme Court agreed with ADF and AHA that the law must supply a remedy for the infringement of First Amendment rights.

Read the AHA’s Supreme Court briefs here and here.

Read today’s opinion here.

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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

Special thanks to the Louis J. Appignani Foundation for their support of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center.