Medford-based Youth 71Five Ministries, which serves at-risk youth, says state officials have stripped it of previously approved Youth Community Investment Grant funds because it asks employees and volunteers to sign a statement of faith.
Attorney Jeremiah Galus of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the law firm representing the ministry, says court precedent is on their side.
"The Supreme Court has said three times in the past seven years that state officials cannot exclude religious organizations from a generally available government program solely because they're … religious based," he tells AFN. "If they're going to open up the program to secular organizations, they cannot exclude religious organizations in this way."
According to ADF, Youth 71Five Ministries applied for and was granted funds from 2017 to 2023. It was not until it applied for another cycle that the ministry was informed of a new rule that requires applicants "do not discriminate" in areas of employment based on religion.
Earlier this year, Bud Amundsen, executive director of 71Five, told AFN the ministry operates a vocational training program that is currently helping a 21-year-old in a detention center who cannot read or write. The mission and vision, he says, goes beyond helping the young man get a job; they are doing their best to share God's story of hope so that he has a lifetime of hope.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke recently ruled the state education department could not be sued on the grounds the ministry claimed, and he dismissed the lawsuit against Charlene Williams, director of the Oregon Department of Education; Brian Detman, director of the youth development division; and Cord Bueker, Jr., deputy director of the youth development division.
In response, ADF attorneys filed a notice of appeal Monday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
