The Trump administration on Tuesday filed a legal brief with the Indiana Supreme Court, formally making the case Catholic school has a First Amendment right to fire a teacher for entering into a same-sex marriage.
The 36-page brief, signed by U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler for the Southern District of Indiana, asserts the Archdiocese of Indianapolis had a constitutional right to terminate Joshua Payne-Elliott from his job as a world language and social studies teacher at Cathedral High School, despite contractual obligations he had with the school.
Although a trial court in Indiana in May 2020 rejected a request from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to throw out of the lawsuit, saying the First Amendment only applies to the “highest authority”