In Calvary Chapel Belfast v. University of Maine System, (1st Cir., June 30, 2026), the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's refusal to stop the sale by the University of Maine of the Frederick Hutchinson Center property to a bidder that was competing with Calvary Chapel Belfast to obtain the property. Originally, the University selected Calvary Chapel to negotiate a purchase agreement. However, according to the court:
In the days following the public announcement, numerous area residents as well as University alumni, donors, students, faculty, and staff criticized the University's selection of a religious entity, and Calvary in particular, as the winning bidder. One online commentor, for example, referred to the decision as "disappointing," with another writing, "[t]hese evangelists from [Calvary] are just another religious cult that believes in magical thinking."...
Calvary asserts an intentional discrimination claim, arguing that the University violated the Equal Protection Clause by carrying out the facially neutral public procurement process in a discriminatory way. ... Specifically, Calvary argues that the court created a "novel rule" when it required Calvary "to make a direct 'showing connecting the animus in the community to the government action' to raise an inference of discriminatory intent." ...
The court recognized that widespread religious animus in the community can, in certain circumstances, support an inference that a government official acted with discriminatory intent by essentially adopting the community's view even if the official did not personally share that view.... But the presence of community opposition does not, without more, imply a conclusion of intentional discrimination by the decisionmaker.... And here the court found scant evidentiary support for the alleged irregularities -- "the more" -- urged by Calvary....
