SCOTUS Declines to Block Order Forcing University to Allow LGBTQ+ Club
(CNN) -- The Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote declined on Wednesday a request from Yeshiva University to block a lower court order that requires the New York university to recognize a "Pride Alliance" LGBTQ student club.In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court noted that the New York state courts had yet to issue a final order in the case, and that Yeshiva could return to the Supreme Court after the New York courts have acted."The application is denied because it appears that applicants have at least two further avenues for expedited or interim state court relief," the court said.Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, dissented from the court's order, noting that the lower courts could take "months to rule.""I see no reason why we should not grant a stay at this time," he said.Noting that the school objected to recognizing a group that would have implications that are not consistent with the Torah, Alito said, "The First Amendment guarantees the right to the free exercise of religion, and if that provision means anything, it prohibits a State from enforcing its own preferred interpretation of the Holy Scripture.""The upshot is that Yeshiva is almost certain to be compelled for at least some period of time (and perhaps for a lengthy spell) to instruct its students in accordance with what it regards as an incorrect interpretation of Torah and Jewish law," Alito continued.He said that a state's imposition of its "own mandatory interpretation of scripture is a shocking development that calls out for review," and added that "it is our duty to stand up for the Constitution even when doing so is controversial."Justice Sonia Sotomayor -- who has jurisdiction over the lower court.
