The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed suit against the state in April on behalf of St. Vincent, the Bucks, and a former foster child adopted through the Catholic charity, to fight the attorney general’s policy against them. The complaint alleged the state violated their First Amendment rights and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

On Thursday, District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand Rapids said the charity’s practice of referring same-sex couples to other agencies was not discriminatory, and that the attorney general wanting to cancel St. Vincent’s contract “strongly suggests the state’s real goal is not to promote non-discriminatory child placements, but to stamp out St. Vincent’s religious belief and replace it with the state’s own. It would disrupt a carefully balanced and established practice that ensures non-discrimination in child placements while still accommodating traditional Catholic religious beliefs on marriage,” he wrote.

The judge also seemed to take aim at Attorney General Nessel specifically, and declined to dismiss her from the suit, saying she “targeted” St. Vincent. He said she is at the “very heart” of the case after she made past statements referring to supporters of the 2015 law that allowed the referrals because of religious belief as “hate-mongers” and calling the measure indefensible during her 2018 campaign.

Melissa Buck is celebrating the ruling, saying, “St. Vincent brought our family together, and I’m happy to know they can keep doing their great work helping children find homes.”

Lori Windham, senior counsel of the Becket Fund said, “Our nation is facing a foster care crisis, and we are so glad that Michigan’s foster children will continue having all hands on deck to help them find loving forever homes. The Bucks and St. Vincent Catholic Charities won a victory in Michigan, but there is still work to be done to ensure that faith-based agencies can contribute to ending our nation’s foster care crisis.”

(Excerpt from CBN News. Article by Deborah Bunting.)