There are so many things wrong with Marci Hamilton’s Findlaw column about Christian Legal Society v. Martinez that it’s hard to know where to start. So I’ll start at the beginning and work my way through, hitting the most serious deficiencies in the column.

The column states that this case will cause the Supreme Court to “wade into the culture wars morass.” To be sure, this case arises out of a leftwing university’s attack on a theologically orthodox religious group. However, the legal principles involved transcend the particular positions taken by the contending sides on religious and moral questions. At stake is the freedom of all student groups to choose leaders who share their respective missions, free from undue government pressure. For decades, counter-cultural groups have invoked the First Amendment to protect themselves from hostile university administrators. In the past, groups on the Left resisted officials they perceived to be conservative. Now the roles are reversed. Just as the courts vindicated the Constitution in those cases, they should do so now as well. There is no need for the Court to “choose sides” in the culture war. It simply needs to uphold the Constitution.

This entire article will be available soon on FindLaw

One of the more irritating assumptions in modern cultural/political life is the common theme one encounters on campus (and elsewhere) that the cultural Right restricts liberty while the Left defends it. And no one (allegedly) restricts liberty more than those tyrannical members of the “Religious Right,” with their repressive moral code and puritanical sensibilities.

If this is the case, then why is it — as a card-carrying member of the “Religious Right” — I have never in my career been involved in a case that limited or constricted pre-existing legal rights? Why is it that every successful case has resulted in greater liberty, not just for my clients but for the entire campus community?

Click here to read the rest of the story.

David French, Senior Counsel writing for NRO Phi Beta Cons