The Center for Law & Religious Freedom

The Center for Law & Religious Freedom is the advocacy arm of the Christian Legal Society. The Center has been a respected voice in the protection of First Amendment rights since it was founded in 1975. The Center's primary mission is to defend and advance the religious freedom of all Americans. Since 1993, the Center has also defended the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

The Center's Mission

The Center pursues its mission through "test case" litigation, friend-of-the-court briefs, governmental affairs advocacy, and providing information to CLS members and the general public.

The Center’s current primary goal is to favorably resolve unsettled but important questions of law through test case litigation.  Those unsettled but important questions of law are as follows:

1. To what extent does the Constitution protect religious organizations from the government’s application of religion and sexual orientation non-discrimination rules?
    
2. To what extent does the Constitution forbid government from discriminating against religion in the funding context?
    
3. To what extent does the law protect the consciences of pro-life health care providers? 

The Center's Clients

The Center pursues favorable resolution of these questions through test case lawsuits primarily on behalf of the following groups:

• Faith-based social service providers,
   
• Religious educational institutions,
   
• Religious student groups at public universities, and
   
• Pro-life health care providers.

In these test cases, Center attorneys often represent the Association of Faith-Based Organizations (AFBO), an association of religious schools, social service providers, denominations, and other religious groups that cherish the freedom to organize around shared religious commitments.