Law firm claims NH university discriminates against religious student group: 'Had ample warning'

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First Liberty Institute, a law firm dedicated to protecting religious freedom, announced a new formal complaint against the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law ("UNH Law") over apparent discrimination against a student coalition on Monday

According to Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys, students at UNH Law formed the Free Exercise Coalition, a group dedicated to promoting the free exercise of religion both on and off campus. However, UNH Law’s Student Bar Association ("SBA") has been limiting the organization by refusing to formally recognize the group and pressuring faculty advisors to withdraw membership.

"Rarely, if ever, has a student organization been more aptly named or, as the actions of your students and faculty make clear, needed at UNH Law. Despite the Free Exercise Coalition meeting all the requirements for recognition as an official student organization and completing its application, UNH Law’s Student Bar Association ("SBA") refuses to grant formal recognition to Free Exercise Coalition at UNH Law. Rather than faithfully serving its administrative function of approving student organizations that meet—as the Free Exercise Coalition does—the objective criteria set by UNH Law, SBA so maligned the members and beliefs of Free Exercise Coalition, leading its faculty advisor to withdraw. There can be no excuse for such open hostility to the religious beliefs of our clients," the letter read.

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First Liberty insists that UNH Law violated the group's constitutional right to free exercise of religion.  (istock)

Dys remarked to Fox News Digital that a similar instance occurred with the Christian Legal Society student organization two months earlier. After lawyers for CLS sent their own formal letter to the university, the school officially recognized the organization on campus.

"So, the SBA had ample warning not to discriminate against student groups on the basis of religion, but did so anyway. That opens the university officials to personal liability, as we outline in our letter," Dys commented.

First Liberty Institute's letter emphasized that SBA "is engaging in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination" and the law school itself could be "liable for SBA’s unconstitutional actions."

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"As such, should you fail to meet the demands of this letter, we will seek the full recourse of relief available to our clients, which includes seeking to hold you and your faculty personally liable for the actions of SBA," the letter continued.

First Liberty Institute is currently demanding UNH Law formally recognize the Free Exercise Coalition as an organization no later than Jan. 2, 2023. In addition, they requested an investigation into SBA’s treatment of religious student groups, training efforts in laws protecting student expression by Feb. 1 and public notification of these efforts to the student body.

The law firm also demanded a response to the letter no later than Dec. 23. 

When reached for a comment, UNH denied treating the organization differently and insisted the group is still under review. 

The law firm is currently seeking religious vaccine exemptions for Air Force pilots. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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"An application by a group of our students who wish to form the ‘Free Exercise Coalition’ was submitted and is being reviewed under the same protocol and standard as applied to other student groups. Our law school is committed to the principles of free speech, freedom of expression, and civility," UNH Law responded.