University of Iowa administrators ignored "clearly established" law by singling out student group with traditional views on sexuality. Three University of Iowa officials can be held personally liable for derecognizing a Christian student club over its leadership requirements, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
The law is "clearly established" that government officials cannot practice viewpoint discrimination, as administrators did by enforcing a "human rights" policy against Business Leaders in Christ but not other student groups, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined.
It's exceedingly rare for courts to deny "qualified immunity" to public actors for violating constitutional rights. Litigants must point to court precedents that officials should have known were binding on their specific behavior, making it unlawful.
Yet the University of Iowa is likely to suffer a second loss on qualified immunity in a closely related case involving a different Christian club, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Oral arguments for each case were four months apart, and both went badly for the university.
The three-judge panel upheld two constitutional claims by Business Leaders in Christ but divided on the third claim, on whether administrators should have known they were violating the club's free exercise rights.
In a concurrence and dissent, Judge Jonathan Kobes said all three claims should have been upheld.
"The law is clear: state organizations may not target religious groups for differential treatment or withhold an otherwise available benefit solely because they are religious," he wrote. "The individual defendants may pick their poison: they are either plainly incompetent or they knowingly violated the Constitution."
The University of Iowa did not respond to Just the News on whether it would appeal the ruling either to the full 8th Circuit or to the Supreme Court. It told Inside Higher Ed Monday that officials were "currently reviewing the decision" and the university's options.
University leaders may be reluctant to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in, however.
Not only have Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor argued for ending qualified immunity, but free speech legal groups are urging the high court to specifically revoke the judicial doctrine for public university officials. Activists argue that universities can drag out legal proceedings until students graduate and that officials often take unconstitutional actions after consulting with lawyers.
Officials used 'nondiscrimination policy to discriminate against religion'
Religious liberty law firm Becket, which represents both Business Leaders in Christ and InterVarsity, celebrated the ruling in a statement.
"It's deeply ironic that school officials tried using the university's nondiscrimination policy to discriminate against religion," senior counsel Eric Baxter said. "We're pleased the court has recognized that such blatant religious discrimination brings personal consequences."
Becket was back in trial court Wednesday for yet another InterVarsity lawsuit against a public university, this time Michigan's Wayne State, for similar preferential treatment of secular groups.