Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Catholic Agency Sues Michigan Over Adoption Agency Non-Discrimination Policy

As previously reported, last month Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that the state has entered into a settlement agreement that calls for the state to enforce non-discrimination provisions in agreements with foster care and adoption agencies.  The settlement applies to any agency contracting with the state that discriminates against same-sex couples or LGBTQ individuals otherwise qualified as foster care or adoptive parents.  Yesterday suit was filed in a Michigan federal district court by a Catholic adoption and foster care agency, and by some of its clients, challenging Michigan's new policy.  The complaint (full text) in Buck v. Gordon, (WD MI, filed 4/15/2019), contends that the new policy violates plaintiffs' 1st and 14th Amendment rights as well as RFRA. The Federalist reports on the lawsuit.