| Christian Legal Society | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1961 |
| Type | Christian law society and legal network of lawyers and law students |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Virginia[1] |
| Membership | attorneys, judges, law students, others |
| Official languages | English |
| President | Craig Shultz, President & Chairman of the Board[1] |
| Key people |
Fred L. Potter, Executive Director & CEO |
| Budget | $2,456,420 Total Support and Revenue (2008)[2] |
| Staff | approximately 10[3] |
| Website | http://www.clsnet.org |
The Christian Legal Society (CLS) is a non-profit, non-denominational organization of Christian lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students whose members profess to follow the "commandment of Jesus" to "do justice with the love of God."[4]
The society has a legal arm, The Center for Law & Religious Freedom, for litigation purposes especially against restriction on legal rights of religious organizations. This arm also submits amicus curiae legal briefs in cases involving important religious freedom issues.[1]
CLS publications include The Christian Lawyer (quarterly), The Christian Lawyer Digest, CLS Bible Studies, CLS E-Devotionals (bi-weekly), and The Defender (publication of CLS' Center for Law and Religious Freedom).[1][5]
CLS receives no government support for any of its programs or ministries and is supported by the dues and support of its members.
The Christian Legal Society holds an annual convention in the United States.
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The organization, which is based in the United States, was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1961 by four lawyers (Paul Bernard, Gerrit P. Groen, Henry Luke Banks, and Elmer Johnson) who had met at a convention of the American Bar Association in 1959 to pray together.[5]
Since its founding, it has grown to include 90 attorney chapters, 165 law school chapters, and four unincorporated ministry divisions.
CLS membership includes attorneys, judges, law students, and others who profess their commitment to the Faith. They are organized in more than 1100 cities into attorney chapters, law student chapters, and fellowships throughout the United States.[5]
Membership in the Christian Legal Society is open to all who believe in and sign CLS’ Statement of Faith.
Since its founding in 1961, CLS’ nine organizational objectives, as set forth in its amended not-for-profit articles of incorporation, have been[6]:
On March 16, 2007, the Upsilon Chapter at the University of Florida was officially recognized by the Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX) national board.[7] The University of Florida however, refused to recognize BYX.[8] The university had refused to recognize the chapter as a "Registered Student Organization" because the fraternity only accepts men, and would not recognize the chapter as a "Social Fraternity" because the fraternity only accepts Christians.[9]
On July 10, 2007, the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom and the Christian Legal Society filed suit (Beta Upsilon Chi Upsilon Chapter v. Machen, 586 F.3d 908, 911-912 (11th Cir. 2009)) on behalf of BYX against various officials from the University of Florida for various constitutional violations including unlawful discrimination.[10] During the course of the proceedings, the 11th Circuit Court (United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on appeal from the Northern District of Florida, Leon County) ordered that the chapter be recognized pending the disposition of the appeal. The case was ultimately dismissed as moot when the university amended its policies to permit the registration of the chapter.[11][12][13]
Their case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez reached the Supreme Court of the United States in 2010.[14] It was argued on April 19, 2010 and decided June 28, 2010 against the CLS by a vote of 5-4. The court upheld, against a First Amendment challenge, the policy of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law governing official recognition of student groups, which required the groups to accept all students regardless of their status or beliefs in order to obtain recognition.[15][16][17]