Freedom Updates
Advocates in Action
Advocates for Faith & Freedom Challenges California’s Ban on Religious Vaccine Exemptions in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
ADVOCATES FOR FAITH & FREEDOM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 16, 2025
CONTACT: Nicole Velasco
NVELASCO@FAITH-FREEDOM.COM
Murrieta, CA—On Friday, August 8, 2025, Advocates for Faith and Freedom filed its opening brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of four California moms and their families fighting to restore religious exemptions to the state’s vaccination law. Since 1961, California had allowed exemptions for personal beliefs—including religious objections. But in 2016, the State nixed all personal belief exemptions, which they knew to also include any and all religious exemptions. The State’s vaccine law, SB 277, still allows exemptions for secular reasons though. The State allows students with a medical exemption, students who are over 18-years-old, students with IEPs (individualized education plans), students with certain social statuses like homelessness, military families, and in foster care, and students transferring schools to be exempt or to enjoy periods of exemption from the law’s requirements. Yet even though the State allows numerous secular exemptions, it refused to allow a religious exemption to the small number of families who seek to exempt their children based on religious reasons. Religious families who object to the vaccines required under SB 277 have to choose: follow their sincerely held religious beliefs or forego admissibility to all private and public schools for their children in the State of California.
“Advocates for Faith & Freedom’s brief highlights what is an important point of fairness but also an important principle of constitutional law: before the State is allowed to ban schoolchildren from all public and private schools in California, it must demonstrate that doing so is necessary. It is hard to prove necessity to single out religious exemptions for extinction, however, when the State allows so many secular exemptions which seemingly pose the same harm.” said Erin Mersino, Vice President of Advocates for Faith and Freedom.
“Our First Amendment liberties must be protected with vigilance,” added Robert Tyler, President and Chief Counsel of Advocates for Faith & Freedom. “We are honored to take this fight to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of our courageous clients.”
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PRESS RELEASE | CHINO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CHALLENGES UNJUST INJUCTION ON SCHOOL BOARD INVOCATIONS
Press Release
ADVOCATES FOR FAITH & FREEDOM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: tHURSDAY, JULY 31, 2025
CONTACT: Nicole Velasco at
media@faith-freedom.COM
CHINO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CHALLENGES UNJUST INJUCTION ON SCHOOL BOARD INVOCATIONS
Murrieta, CA — Today, Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) has taken decisive legal action to challenge an outdated injunction that prohibits school board meetings from opening with an invocation. The injunction, originally imposed by the Ninth Circuit Court, was based on the now-defunct Lemon test, which the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down as an unreliable and ahistorical framework for interpreting the Establishment Clause.
In its place, the Supreme Court has clarified that constitutional questions regarding religious expression should be analyzed in light of our nation’s history and traditions. The Founding Fathers recognized the power of invocations to solemnize proceedings and unify communities, demonstrating that such practices are deeply rooted in American governance.
Because the invalid Lemon test was used to justify the injunction against CVUSD’s policy of opening board meetings with prayer, this restriction is no longer legally sound or equitable. Advocates for Faith & Freedom, on behalf of CVUSD, has therefore filed a motion to lift the injunction, seeking to establish a policy that permits invocations prior to school board meetings in accordance with long-standing American traditions.
“Our school board welcomed voices of all faiths without coercion or preference, yet groups driven by political agendas forced us to abandon a unifying tradition,” said CVUSD School Board President, Sonja Shaw. “This is not what the First Amendment was meant to protect. We will not quietly surrender our right to reflect the values of our community and the freedoms our nation was built upon.”
“This injunction was based on a now-overturned legal doctrine and suppresses a practice that has been part of our nation’s fabric since its inception,” said Advocates attorney, Robert Tyler. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that the history and traditions of our country should guide our understanding of the Establishment Clause. Chino Valley Unified School District is right to challenge this injunction and restore the rightful place of invocations in its school board meetings.”
This legal challenge underscores a broader effort to reaffirm constitutional freedoms and honor America’s historical commitment to religious expression in public life. Advocates for Faith & Freedom stands firm in its commitment to protecting religious expression in the public sphere and ensuring that communities are free to exercise their constitutional rights.
Press Release | Christian Monk Jailed for Praying: Supreme Court Asked to Stop Nationwide Gag Order on Pro-Life Speech
ADVOCATES FOR FAITH & FREEDOM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MONDAY, July 28, 2025
CONTACT: Nicole Velasco
NVELASCO@FAITH-FREEDOM.COM
Washington, D.C. — Today, Advocates for Faith & Freedom and the American Freedom Law Center filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Mr. Matthew Connolly, a Christian monk and peaceful pro-life advocate who was convicted and sentenced to jail. His only alleged offense: quietly kneeling in prayer in a public area near an abortion facility.
The City of Southfield, Michigan, charged Mr. Connolly with violating a vague ordinance that criminalizes undefined behaviors such as causing “annoyance” or “disquiet” in public places. Mr. Connolly never entered the abortion clinic. He never raised his voice or disrupted any activity. He prayed silently in a common area open to the public. Law enforcement described his actions as “peaceful.” Nonetheless, he was arrested, convicted, and denied probation after refusing to accept a sweeping condition that would prohibit him from engaging in peaceful pro-life speech anywhere within 500 feet of any abortion facility in the United States. Had Mr. Connolly agreed to the terms, he would have been barred from seeking routine medical care at any hospital that provides abortions, an impossible condition for any citizen.
“This case is not just about Mr. Connolly,” said Advocates for Faith & Freedom attorney Erin Mersino. “It is about whether the government can silence pro-life Americans and criminalize public prayer. If this unconstitutional gag order is allowed to stand, then no one’s speech is safe.”
The petition challenges a vague and overbroad ordinance that criminalizes free expression based on someone else’s subjective feelings, as well as a nationwide probation condition that strips Mr. Connolly of his First Amendment rights across all fifty states.
Because Mr. Connolly refused to forfeit his constitutional rights, the court sentenced him to 90 days in jail and imposed monetary penalties. The ordinance in question criminalizes “annoying” behavior in public places, a subjective and ever-shifting standard that chills lawful expression and opens the door to arbitrary enforcement.
“We are asking the United States Supreme Court to do what the Constitution already demands: protect the right of Americans, especially those who advocate for the sanctity of life, to speak freely, assemble peacefully, and pray publicly,” Attorney Erin Mersino continued.
This case is a pivotal moment for religious liberty and free speech. If prayer can be prosecuted, preaching can be banned. Silence now will only embolden government suppression of faith-based expression.
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Advocates for Faith & Freedom is a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting constitutional and religious liberty in the courts. Our mission is to engage in cases that will uphold our religious liberty and America’s heritage and to educate Americans about our fundamental constitutional rights.