Youth 71Five Ministries v. Williams

Description:  An Oregon youth ministry is challenging state officials for stripping public funding, which they had been previously approved to receive, because of a policy change that discriminates against the ministry’s religious employee and volunteer hiring practices.

WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to hear the case of an Oregon religious organization that serves at-risk youth. ADF attorneys represent Youth 71Five Ministries as it seeks to uphold its constitutional right to hire like-minded individuals and participate equally in government benefit programs.

For years, 71Five received grant funds from Oregon’s Youth Community Investment Grants program and even received the distinction of a top-rated application in 2021. That recently changed, however, when state officials added a new eligibility rule that prohibits grantees from hiring only people who share their religious beliefs. That rule stripped 71Five of already-awarded grants and disquali­fied it from further grants simply because the Christian ministry re­quires all employees to sign a statement of faith.

“71Five provides crucial support and care to anyone who needs it, but Oregon officials are marginalizing it because it’s a Christian ministry that reasonably asks its volunteers and staff to sign a statement of faith,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch. “By depriving 71Five of funding, Oregon is holding religious ministries and organizations to an unconstitutional choice: Hire those who reject your beliefs to receive grants or go without funding. We are urging the Supreme Court to review this case and affirm 71Five’s constitutionally protected freedoms.”

71Five welcomes everyone to participate in its programs, and it serves young people in Oregon of all faiths and backgrounds, including at-risk youth, young people in detention centers and correctional facilities, and expectant and parenting teens. It achieves its goals through employees and volunteers who share its mission and beliefs, as outlined by its statement of faith.

When an anonymous person complained that 71Five’s website says the ministry hires only people who share its faith—which has always been true—Oregon invoked its new rule, rescinded the grants 71Five had been awarded for the next funding cycle, and kicked it out of the program altogether. Attorneys explain in the petition, however, that the First Amendment forbids the government from conditioning participation in a public-benefit program on a religious organization giving up its religious hiring rights.

Attorneys filed the lawsuit Youth 71Five Ministries v. Williams in March 2024. A U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit panel held Oregon’s exclusion of 71Five unconstitutional and entered an injunction pending appeal. But a subsequent 9th Circuit ruling disagreed, prompting attorneys to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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