The Supreme Court first considered the petition in the closely watched case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez at its Sept. 29 closed conference. It did not act then, and according to the Court’s online docket, it has re-listed the case for five subsequent conferences, including the conference scheduled for this Friday, Nov. 13 — an unusually long delay.
The petition challenges a decision of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law to deny official recognition to the Christian student group because it does not conform to the school’s requirement that membership and leadership positions be open to all. The Hastings chapter of the society requires members to sign a statement of faith that vows devotion to Jesus Christ and has been interpreted to bar those with a “sexually immoral lifestyle.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in an unpublished two-sentence ruling in March, said the law school’s action was “viewpoint neutral and reasonable.”
