{{Short description|U.S. nonprofit organization}} {{Infobox law firm | name = Becket Fund for Religious Liberty | logo = Becketlogo.png | headquarters = 1900 [[Pennsylvania Avenue]] NW, [[Washington, D.C.]] 20006 | practice_areas = [[Freedom of religion|Religious freedom]] and other [[First Amendment]] cases | key_people = Mark Rienzi (president and CEO) | date_founded = 1994<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{Cite news|title=Becket Fund law firm gaining a reputation as powerhouse after Hobby Lobby win|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/becket-fund-law-firm-gaining-a-reputation-as-powerhouse-after-hobby-lobby-win/2014/07/20/c28931a4-104c-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_story.html}}</ref><ref name="Boorstein">{{Cite news|last=Boorstein|first=Michelle|date=2014-06-30|title=Founder of Hobby Lobby's law firm pioneered debate over religious freedom|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/founder-of-hobby-lobbys-law-firm-pioneered-the-debate-over-religious-freedom/2014/06/30/f128d4d2-e04b-11e3-9743-bb9b59cde7b9_story.html|access-date=2020-06-10|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref name="Time">{{Cite magazine|last1=Dias|first1=Elizabeth|title=Meet the Lawyers Fighting for Religious Freedom Today Before the Supreme Court|url=https://time.com/3476109/becket-fund-supreme-court-prison-beard/|access-date=2020-06-10|magazine=Time|language=en}}</ref> | founder = [[Kevin Hasson]]<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/><ref name="Boorstein"/><ref name="Time"/> | company_type = [[Non-profit organization]] <!-- Infobox does not support the following parameter:| slogan = "To defend the free exercise of all faiths, from Anglican to Zoroastrian."<ref name=politico /> --> | num_employees = | revenue = $18.8 million (2024)<ref name="irs2021">{{cite web| title = IRS form 990 |publisher = Internal Revenue Service | date = 2023 | website = ProPublica | url = https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521858532| access-date = June 12, 2025}}</ref> | homepage = {{URL|becketfund.org}} }}
'''Becket''', also known as the '''Becket Fund for Religious Liberty''', is a [[non-profit]] [[public interest law|public interest]] [[law firm]]<ref name="Time"/> based in [[Washington, D.C.]], with a mission to "protect the free expression of all faiths." Becket promotes [[accommodationism]] and is active in the judicial system, the media, and in education.<ref name="BanksBlakeman2012">{{cite book|last1=Banks|first1=Christopher P.|last2=Blakeman|first2=John C.|title=The U.S. Supreme Court and New Federalism: From the Rehnquist to the Roberts Court|date=13 July 2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|language=en|isbn=9781442218581|page=176}}</ref> Becket has an undefeated record at the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], having won 13 consecutive cases since 2012.<ref>{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Pamela |last2=Northey |first2=Hannah |title=Supreme Court powerhouse aligns with tribe to stop copper mine |url=https://www.eenews.net/articles/supreme-court-powerhouse-aligns-with-tribe-to-stop-copper-mine/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |work=E&E News by POLITICO |date=23 October 2024}}</ref>
== History and leadership == The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty was founded in 1994 by [[Kevin Hasson]], a lawyer who previously worked in the [[Reagan Administration]] [[U.S. Justice Department|Justice Department]] under [[Samuel Alito]], then-Assistant Attorney General and current [[U.S. Supreme Court]] Justice. Subsequently, Hasson worked at the Washington law firm [[Williams & Connolly]], where he became well-known and controversial for defending [[Catholic University of America|Catholic University]]'s decision to fire [[Charles Curran (theologian)|Charles Curran]] for his opposition to Church doctrine despite his being a respected moral theologian.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Crane|first1=Anita|title=Kevin Hasson on the right to life and religious liberty|url=http://www.clmagazine.org/article/index/id/OTM2MQ/|website=Celebrate Life Magazine|publisher=American Life League|access-date=19 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902115344/http://www.clmagazine.org/article/index/id/OTM2MQ/|archive-date=2 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Hasson, who is Catholic, named The Becket Fund after [[Saint]] [[Thomas Becket]], who was the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] from 1162 to 1170 during the reign of [[Henry II of England]].<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Thomas-Becket|title=Saint Thomas Becket {{!}} Biography, Death, & Significance|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}}</ref> A long series of quarrels with King Henry ended with Becket's murder and martyrdom at Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.<ref name="britannica.com" /> His last words were an acceptance of death in defense of the church of Christ.<ref name="britannica.com" />
In 2011, Hasson stepped down as president of Becket, making way for William P. Mumma, who has since served as the president and chairman of the board. [[Kristina Arriaga]], who was the executive director of Becket starting in 2010 and a member of the firm since 1995,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.becketlaw.org/about-us/staff/|title=Our Staff|website=Becket|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-09}}</ref> is now a senior advisor to the board.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.becketlaw.org/staff/kristina-arriaga/|title=Kristina Arriaga - Becket|work=Becket|access-date=2018-04-13|language=en-US}}</ref> Montse Alvarado, who started with Becket in 2009, replaced Arriaga as executive director in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.becketlaw.org/staff/montse-alvarado-2/|title=Montse Alvarado - Becket|work=Becket|access-date=2018-04-13|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/gods-aclu-seeks-freedom-for-the-faithful-1501270613|title='God's ACLU' Seeks Freedom for the Faithful|last=Varadarajan|first=Tunku|date=2017-07-28|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2018-04-13|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> [https://www.becketlaw.org/staff/mark-rienzi/ Mark Rienzi] now serves as president and CEO of Becket.
In 2021, the law firm reported having 63 employees and revenue of about $11.2 million, up from $7.5 million in 2020.<ref name="irs2021"/> In 2014, the law firm had eleven litigating attorneys, and an estimated budget of five million dollars. The firm operates as a non-profit.<ref name="Time"/>
== Supreme Court cases == Becket has served as counsel at the Supreme Court for thirteen religious freedom cases since 2012, starting with ''[[Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission|Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC]]'' (2012). In ''Hosanna-Tabor'', the Supreme Court unanimously ruled (9–0) in favor of the [[ministerial exception]] doctrine for the first time, which exempts religious institutions from anti-discrimination laws in hiring its "ministers".<ref>{{cite web|title=Editorial: Supreme Court got it right on church hiring|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-xpm-2012-jan-13-la-ed-minister-20120113-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=13 January 2012 |access-date=19 September 2015}}</ref>
They also served as counsel to the plaintiffs in ''[[Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.]]'' (2014)<ref name=wash-post-powerhouse>{{cite news|last1=Bratek|first1=Rebecca|title=Becket Fund law firm gaining a reputation as powerhouse after Hobby Lobby win|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/becket-fund-law-firm-gaining-a-reputation-as-powerhouse-after-hobby-lobby-win/2014/07/20/c28931a4-104c-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=19 September 2015}}</ref> in their fight to exempt themselves from having to pay for four different drugs and devices they deemed as abortifacients.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Gunter|first1=Jen|title=The Medical Facts About Birth Control and Hobby Lobby—From an OB/GYN|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/118547/facts-about-birth-control-and-hobby-lobby-ob-gyn|magazine=New Republic|access-date=19 September 2015}}</ref> The court ruled 5–4 in favor of [[Hobby Lobby]], asserting that family owned businesses have a right to operate in accordance with their conscience.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mears|first1=Bill|title=Supreme Court rules against Obama in contraception case|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/30/politics/scotus-obamacare-contraception/|website=CNN|date=30 June 2014|access-date=19 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Thomson-DeVeaux|first1=Amelia|title=The Little-Known Force Behind the Hobby Lobby Contraception Case|url=http://prospect.org/article/little-known-force-behind-hobby-lobby-contraception-case|website=American Prospect Longform|date=18 June 2014 |access-date=19 September 2015}}</ref>
Becket also litigated ''[[Holt v. Hobbs]]'' (2015) at the Supreme Court. A Muslim inmate in the Arkansas prison system wanted to grow a beard according to his faith. When he was denied his request he wrote a petition to the Supreme Court asking to hear his case.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tobingrant.religionnews.com/2014/08/19/right-grow-beard-scotus-supreme-court-prisoner-case-muslim-becket-fund/ |title=Right to grow a beard? SCOTUS grants very rare approval to hear a prisoner's case - Corner of Church and State |access-date=2015-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920085254/http://tobingrant.religionnews.com/2014/08/19/right-grow-beard-scotus-supreme-court-prisoner-case-muslim-becket-fund/ |archive-date=2015-09-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Court agreed to take on the case and Becket represented Holt, citing that the denial of the plaintiff's right to grow his beard according to his faith is a clear violation of the [[Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act]]. The Supreme Court would later unanimously rule in support of Holt.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/20/politics/supreme-court-hands-down-prison-beard/index.html|title=Supreme Court backs beards in prison - CNNPolitics|author=Ariane de Vogue|website=CNN|date=20 January 2015|access-date=2019-05-09}}</ref> Becket served as counsel to the ''[[Little Sisters of the Poor]]'' in ''[[Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania]]'' (2020).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.becketlaw.org/case/commonwealth-pennsylvania-v-trump/|title = Little Sisters of the Poor v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania| newspaper=Becket }}</ref> That same term, Becket represented Our Lady of Guadalupe School in ''[[Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru]]'' (2020).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.becketlaw.org/case/our-lady-of-guadalupe-school/|title=Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru}}</ref>
Becket has also filed petitions to the Supreme Court in two cases involving the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]]' [[contraceptive mandate]] on employer-paid health insurance coverage of contraception, which had at the time been consolidated into ''[[Zubik v. Burwell]]'', ''Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Winters |first1=Michael Sean |date=16 July 2015 |title=The Becket Fund, not the Little Sisters, Lose |url=http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/becket-fund-not-little-sisters-lose |access-date=19 September 2015 |website=ncr.com |publisher=National Catholic reporter}}</ref> and ''Houston Baptist University and East Baptist University v. Burwell''.
In 2021, Becket litigated at the Supreme Court ''[[Fulton v. City of Philadelphia]]'' (2021).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-123_g3bi.pdf |title=Fulton v. Philadelphia (06/17/2021) |website=supremecourt.gov |access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref> In a 9–0 ruling, the Court held that the [[City of Philadelphia]] could not refuse to contract with Catholic Social Services (CSS) because of CSS's rejection of [[homosexuality|same-sex]] couples as foster parents, a violation of the city's non-discrimination requirements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oyez.org/cases/2020/19-123|title=Fulton v. City of Philadelphia|website=Oyez|access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref>
In 2025, Becket litigated ''[[Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission|Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin]]'' (2025). The Supreme Court ruled in a 9–0 decision that Wisconsin's denial to give an unemployment tax exemption was unconstitutional because it discriminated against religious organizations based on their religious activities.
== Other litigation activities ==
Becket has represented groups and persons from many different religious traditions; its founder, Kevin Hasson, claims that Becket defends the "religious rights of people from 'A to Z,' from Anglicans to Zoroastrians."<ref name=politico>{{cite web|last1=Thomson-DeVeaux|first1=Amelia|title=God's Rottweilers: Meet the small nonprofit law firm that's reshaping American politics|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/becket-fund-religious-conservatives-111468/|website=Politico|date=5 October 2014 |access-date=19 September 2015}}</ref> Previous clients also included the City of Cranston<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.becketfund.org/ahlquist-v-city-of-cranston-rhode-island-2011-present/|title=Ahlquist v. City of Cranston, Rhode Island (2011–present)|access-date=2012-01-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210165642/http://www.becketfund.org/ahlquist-v-city-of-cranston-rhode-island-2011-present/|archive-date=2011-12-10}}</ref> in the attempt to preserve the Prayer Banner at [[Cranston High School West]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lowney |first1=Brian J. |title=ACLU files suit challenging prayer banner |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/aclu-files-suit-challenging-prayer-banner |access-date=November 24, 2023 |work=[[National Catholic Reporter]] |date=May 19, 2011}}</ref>
In 1997, the ''[[Rigdon v. Perry]]'' case set a precedent that the military could not ban chaplains from following the directives of their religious leaders.<ref>[''Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy'' Spring 2001 Articles & Essays *573 RELIGION, THE PUBLIC SQUARE, AND THE PRESIDENCY Eric W. Treene [FNa1] Copyright (c) 2001 Harvard Society for Law and Public Policy, Inc.; Eric W. Treene, p. 15-16]</ref>
In 2010, Becket represented [[Sacramento]]-area public school students who sought to continue reciting the current form of the [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)|Pledge of Allegiance]] (including the words "under God") in ''[[Newdow v. Carey]]'', the second case brought by [[Michael Newdow]] seeking to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Becket also represented intervenors in the challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance in [[Hanover, New Hampshire]] public schools.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=09-2473P.01A |title=Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Hanover Public Schools |access-date=2012-08-01 |publisher=United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725041753/http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=09-2473P.01A |archive-date=2012-07-25 }}</ref> Both cases were resolved in favor of the current Pledge language.
In 2012, Becket represented a mosque in [[Murfreesboro, Tennessee]], that was denied the right to use its building by a local court after complaints that the mosque was promoting terrorism.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/us/judge-allows-muslims-to-use-murfreesboro-mosque.html|title=Judge allows Muslims to use Tennessee mosque|access-date=2012-08-01|work=New York Times|first=Kim|last=Severson|date=2012-07-18}}</ref> Becket has also litigated on behalf of prisoners who seek to continue following their beliefs in prison. Becket has sought to ensure that observant Jewish prisoners are provided with [[kosher]] food in every prison in the United States. In the case of ''Moussazadeh v. [[Texas Department of Criminal Justice]],'' the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]] affirmed the right of a Jewish prisoner to receive kosher food in a Texas prison.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chammah |first1=Maurice |title=Inmate Lawsuit Over Kosher Food to Get Appeals Court Hearing |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2012/09/28/tdcj-inmate-demands-kosher-food/ |access-date=21 June 2019 |work=Texas Tribune |date=September 28, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Clarke |first1=Matt |title=Texas State Prisoners Fight for Access to Kosher Meals |url=https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/mar/6/texas-state-prisoners-fight-access-kosher-meals/ |access-date=21 June 2019 |work=Prison Legal News |date=March 6, 2018}}</ref>
From 2016 to 2019, Becket represented [[Lehigh County, Pennsylvania]] when it was sued by the [[Madison, Wisconsin]] based [[atheism|atheist]] advocacy organization [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]] for having a cross on its County [[Flag of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania|seal and flag]]. [[Edward G. Smith]], a federal judge with the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]] in [[Philadelphia]], citing the 1971 case of ''[[Lemon v. Kurtzman]]'' ruled that the addition of a cross on the county's seal was unconstitutional in 2017, but the County appealed the decision. In 2019 the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]] in Philadelphia, citing ''[[American Legion v. American Humanist Association]]'', a ruling earlier that year, ruled that the presence of a cross in the County seal did not violate the constitution since it commemorated the history of Lehigh County.<ref name="Lehigh1">{{cite web |last1=Parke |first1=Caleb |title=Appeals court rules Pennsylvania county can keep cross on its seal |url=https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/pennsylvania-lehigh-county-atheists-court-seal-cross |website=[[Fox News]] |date=8 August 2019 |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="Lehigh2">{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Peter |title=Lehigh County tells appeals court cross on county seal is historical, not religious |url=https://www.mcall.com/2018/09/07/lehigh-county-tells-appeals-court-cross-on-county-seal-is-historical-not-religious/ |website=[[The Morning Call]] |date=7 September 2018 |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="Lehigh3">{{cite web |title=Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Lehigh County |url=https://www.becketlaw.org/case/freedom-religion-foundation-v-lehigh-county/ |website=Becket Law |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>
In 2022, the firm began representing [[Yeshiva University]], a [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox Jewish]] university in New York City, in a case where undergraduate students sued the university for refusing to recognize an [[LGBTQ]] student group.<ref name = YU-cnn>{{cite news |last =de Vogue | first = Ariane | title = Yeshiva University asks Supreme Court to let it block LGBTQ student club | date = August 29, 2022 | website = CNN | url = https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/29/politics/yeshiva-university-supreme-court-lgbtq-pride-alliance/index.html | access-date = August 31, 2022}}</ref> A New York court ruled that the university must recognize the undergraduate Pride Alliance in June, 2022; the university appealed to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in an attempt to block the ruling in August 2022.<ref name = YU-forward>{{cite news | title = As Yeshiva University fights to block LGBTQ group, not all its grad schools are on board | last = Kovac | first = Adam | date = August 30, 2022| url = https://forward.com/news/516114/as-yu-fights-to-block-lgbtq-group-not-all-its-grad-schools-are-on-board/ |work=Forward | access-date = August 31, 2022}}</ref>
Another significant area of litigation for Becket has been land use by religious organizations. Becket brought the first case under the [[Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act]], and has been involved with such litigation throughout the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_17055903|title=Supreme Court denies Boulder County's request to weigh in on church expansion|date=10 January 2011|access-date=2012-08-01|newspaper=Boulder Daily Camera}}</ref>
In 2021, Becket began representing the Apache Stronghold, a group of Arizona Apaches who sued the United States government to prevent the opening of a Copper Mine in Oak Flat, Arizona, a location sacred to Apaches. In September 2024, Becket petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appellate court ruling allowing the federal government to build a copper mine on an Apache worship site. Becket argues that the government would be violating the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion if the mine is developed. If a mine is built, it will create a crater two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep that would destroy the Apache worship site located in the Oak Flat Campground.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Manzhos |first1=Mariya |title=Meet the D.C. law firm protecting religious freedom for all |url=https://www.deseret.com/magazine/2024/04/09/becket-law-oak-flat-case/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |work=Deseret News |date=10 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Scheyder |first1=Ernest |title=Indigenous group takes fight against Rio Tinto Arizona copper mine to US Supreme Court |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/indigenous-group-asks-us-supreme-court-block-rio-tintos-arizona-copper-project-2024-09-11/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=Reuters |date=September 11, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Krol |first1=Debra Utacia |title=Apache Stronghold takes its case against Oak Flat copper mine to the Supreme Court |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2024/09/11/apache-stronghold-delivers-appeal-in-oak-flat-case-to-supreme-court/70184315007/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |work=The Arizona Republic |date=September 11, 2024}}</ref>
While Becket typically litigates in favor of religious liberty claims, it occasionally intervenes in favor of the state to oppose free exercise challenges. One example came when Jewish plaintiffs challenged Indiana's restrictive abortion statutes after ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'', claiming that Indiana's laws limiting abortion infringed on Jewish religious belief (which the plaintiffs contended require that abortion be available in most or all situations). In contrast to their normally broad defense of religious liberty claimants, Becket here argued that the Jewish plaintiffs, who had won a preliminary challenge in lower court, were "insincere" in their stated religious beliefs and that even if their religious beliefs were sincere Indiana was justified in overriding them to protect "innocent life".<ref>"Proposed Amicus Curiae Brief of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Support of Appellants," ''Medical Licensing Board of Indiana v. Anonymous Plaintiff 1'', https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20230118184008/Individual-Members-v.-Anonymous-Planitiff-Amicus-Brief.pdf</ref>
==International activities== Becket has represented Muslim clients in the [[European Court of Human Rights]], and assisted in pre-litigation and litigation in Europe, Asia, and Australia.<ref>[http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewWitness&ContentRecord_id=536&ContentType=D&ContentRecordType=D&ParentType=B&CFID=68063032&CFTOKEN=54513334 Helsinki Commission Briefing]</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|https://becketfund.org}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becket Fund for Religious Liberty}} [[Category:American organizations established in 1994]] [[Category:Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States]] [[Category:Freedom of religion in the United States]] [[Category:Legal advocacy organizations in the United States]] [[Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Interfaith organizations based in the United States]] [[Category:Thomas Becket]] [[Category:501(c)(3) organizations]]