Our Legal Work
FFRF and its robust legal department act on countless state/church entanglements on behalf of its members and the public. Through litigation, education, and other persuasive advocacy, FFRF ends hundreds of violations each year, such as prayers and proselytizing in public schools and events, public funding for religious purposes, and religious symbols on public property.
FFRF is able to stop many violations without the need for litigation through our intake team. Members of the public can report church/state violations in their communities to FFRF. The Foundation has had countless victories through this proactive advocacy. These include having a large Ten Commandments removed from the wall of a jail, stopping the baptism of student athletes, removal of a bible verse from a jury summons, and ending the daily recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in a kindergarten classroom.
FFRF’s lawsuits have ended a wide range of egregious First Amendment violations. From our very first lawsuit halting religious postal cancellations, FFRF has successfully won or settled numerous religion-in-the-public-schools cases in favor of nonreligious students and secular education. These include ending 51 years of unlawful bible instruction in Rhea County public schools, removing a Ten Commandments monument in front of a Pennsylvania school, challenging a religious revival held during school hours, and ending 75 years of bible classes in a West Virginia School. FFRF lawsuits have halted school subsidy of child evangelism, removed nativity scenes and Christian crosses from public property, and stopped censorship of freethought displays, and license plates. All of this is in addition to an active amicus brief practice with over 70 briefs filed.
Other court victories include:
- Stopping $1.5 million dollars in funding to private religious schools in South Carolina
- Winning a federal court decision overturning a law declaring Good Friday a state holiday
- Ending a West Virginia City Council’s recitation of the Lord’s Prayer
- Winning a censorship challenge in Texas over a Bill of Rights display
- Winning the first faith-based challenge
- Ending funding to faith-based mentorship program
