Cases | Independence Law Center

Case Page: Youth 71Five Ministries v. Oregon – Exclusion of Faith-Based Employers from State Grant Program

Independence Law Center Supports Oregon Youth Ministry Barred from Program for its Religious Hiring Standards in the U.S. Supreme Court On February 13, 2026, the Independence Law Center filed a brief in support of Youth 71Five Ministries, a Christian nonprofit youth-mentoring ministry that has been serving at-risk youths since the 1960s. Its name, 71Five, is a reference to Psalm 71:5—“Lord God,…

Foote v. Ludlow School Committee – Parental Rights – School Secretly Transitioning Children

A public school in Ludlow, Massachusetts, socially transitioned children without their parents’ consent or knowledge. Staff were required to intentionally deceive parents by using the children’s legal names and sex-based pronouns when speaking to parents, but use “genderqueer” names and pronouns elsewhere. Once the parents discovered what was happening, school officials at Ludlow ignored…

Case Page: Vitsaxaki v. Skaneateles Central School District

Jennifer Vitsaxaki, a devout Catholic, moved to Skaneateles, New York, with her husband and children from Greece when her daughter, “Jane Doe,” was in fourth grade. Jane loved school in Greece, but when she moved to the United States, Jane became increasingly withdrawn, no longer enjoyed school, and began displaying behavioral changes that concerned Vitsaxaki. After several years of trying…

Case Page: Mahmoud v. Taylor

In Mahmoud v. Taylor, a group of parents from Montgomery County, Maryland, challenged a local Board of Education’s policy. The policy mandated that elementary school students read books featuring LGBTQ+ themes without prior parental notification or the option to opt out. The parents, hailing from diverse religious backgrounds—Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox—argued that this policy infringed upon…

Case Page: Medina v. Planned Parenthood

In 2018, the South Carolina Department of Health & Human Services determined that the state’s abortion providers were unqualified to receive state Medicaid funding. Citing a state law prohibiting the use of its own public funds for abortion, South Carolina announced in July 2018 that Planned Parenthood could no longer participate in the State’s Medicaid program. At the same time, the State…

Case Page: DiMeo v. Gross

Dr. Peter Gross is an observant Jew whose faith is central to his life. After he was sued for medical malpractice, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas scheduled his jury trial on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar and has been observed by faithful Jews for millennia. The court refused to move the trial one day, and it removed a Jewish juror because she could…