Supreme Court Gives Schools the Right to Discriminate Against Christian Student Groups

A little earlier today I wrote a piece about how close we are to losing many fundamental rights with just a bare 5-4 conservative majority on the court.  One of those who frequently sides with conservatives is Justice Kennedy, considered a right-leaning moderate.  Unfortunately, he sometimes swing the other way and when it does rights disappear:

The Supreme Court has ruled against a Christian campus group that sued after a California law school denied it official recognition because the student organization limits its core membership to those who share its beliefs on faith and marriage.

At issue was the conflict between a public university's anti-discrimination policies and a private group's freedom of religion and association.

The ruling was written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was on the bench a day after her husband passed away.

The law school, wrote Ginsburg, "caught in the crossfire between a group's desire to exclude and students' demand for equal access, may reasonably draw a line in the sand permitting all organizations to express what they wish but no group to discriminate in membership."

In dissent, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, "I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that today's decision is a serious setback for freedom of expression in this country." He was supported by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

Justice Anthony Kennedy was the swing vote in this contentious case.

I would then expect the same standards to apply to groups at Christian schools that may hold values in opposition to the values of the Christian schools. Those schools will have the right to deny official recognition to such groups.