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!une 10, 2014

1he Ponorable Lrlc P. Polder, !r.
ALLorney Ceneral of Lhe unlLed SLaLes
unlLed SLaLes ueparLmenL of !usLlce
930 ennsylvanla Avenue, nW
WashlngLon, uC 20330-0001

uear Mr. ALLorney Ceneral:

1he 90 underslgned rellglous, educaLlon, clvll rlghLs, labor, LC81, women's, and healLh organlzaLlons
wrlLe Loday Lo requesL LhaL you dlrecL Lhe Cfflce of Legal Counsel (CLC) Lo revlew and wlLhdraw lLs
!une 29, 2007 Memorandum (CLC Memo).
1
1he CLC Memo's lnLerpreLaLlon LhaL Lhe 8ellglous
lreedom 8esLoraLlon AcL of 1993
2
(8l8A) provldes for a blankeL overrlde of sLaLuLory non-
dlscrlmlnaLlon provlslons ls erroneous and LhreaLens core clvll rlghLs and rellglous freedom
proLecLlons. lndeed, Lhe ueparLmenL of !usLlce recenLly lssued an lAC lndlcaLlng LhaL Lhe CLC
Memo wlll be used Lo undermlne Lhe plaln language of Lhe non-dlscrlmlnaLlon provlslon ln Lhe
vlolence AgalnsL Women AcL (vAWA), whlch Congress passed [usL lasL year.
3


1he passage of vAWA lncluded real dellberaLlon over lLs non-dlscrlmlnaLlon provlslon. AfLer
slgnlflcanL debaLe, Congress passed a blll LhaL barred organlzaLlons from engaglng ln employmenL
dlscrlmlnaLlon wlLh vAWA funds. 8uL, because Lhe CLC Memo remalns admlnlsLraLlon pollcy, Lhe
expllclL lnLenL of Congress ls belng lgnored, and Lhe admlnlsLraLlon ls granLlng exempLlons from Lhls
non-dlscrlmlnaLlon provlslon Lo rellglous organlzaLlons LhaL wlsh Lo use rellglon as a crlLerlon when
hlrlng employees uslng Laxpayer dollars.

Some of us were leaders ln Lhe CoallLlon for Lhe lree Lxerclse of 8ellglon, whlch led Lhe efforL Lo
persuade Congress Lo enacL remedlal leglslaLlon afLer Lhe unlLed SLaLes Supreme CourL sharply
curLalled lree Lxerclse Clause proLecLlons ln !"#$%&"'() +,-. -. /",)0 ln 1990.
4
1hls efforL
culmlnaLed ln 1993, when Lhen-resldenL Wllllam !. CllnLon slgned 8l8A lnLo law. ln essence, 8l8A
was lnLended Lo provlde proLecLlon of free exerclse rlghLs, resLorlng Lhe pre-/",)0 sLandard of
sLrlcL scruLlny Lo federal laws LhaL subsLanLlally burden rellglon.

lL was noL lnLended Lo creaLe
blankeL exempLlons Lo non-dlscrlmlnaLlon laws.

?eL, Lhe CLC Memo wrongly asserLs LhaL 8l8A ls reasonably consLrued" Lo requlre LhaL a federal
agency caLegorlcally exempL a rellglous organlzaLlon from an expllclL federal non-dlscrlmlnaLlon
provlslon Lled Lo a granL program. AlLhough Lhe CLC Memo's concluslon ls focused on one !usLlce
ueparLmenL program, lLs overly-broad and erroneous lnLerpreLaLlon of 8l8A has been clLed by oLher
federal agencles and exLended Lo oLher programs and granLs, lncludlng, mosL recenLly, vAWA. 1he
guldance ln Lhe CLC Memo ls noL [usLlfled under appllcable legal sLandards and LhreaLens Lo LllL pollcy
Loward an unwarranLed end LhaL damages clvll rlghLs and rellglous llberLy.


1
Memorandum for Lhe Ceneral Counsel, Cfflce of !usLlce rograms, from !ohn . Llwood, uepuLy AsslsLanL ALLorney
Ceneral, Cfflce of Legal Counsel, 1'2 3##$,45),%( %6 )0' 1'$,7,%89 :;''<%" 1'9)%;5),%( 34) )% )0' 3=5;< %6 5 >;5() ?8;985()
)% )0' @8-'(,$' @89),4' 5(< +'$,(A8'(4& ?;'-'(),%( 34) (!une 29, 2007).
2
42 u.S.C. 2000bb ') 9'A.(2000).
3
u.S. ueparLmenL of !usLlce, :;'A8'()$& 39B'< C8'9),%(92 3#;,$ DE FGHI2 J%(<,94;,",(5),%( >;5() K%(<,),%( ,( )0' L,%$'(4'
375,(9) M%"'( 34) %6 FGHN, hLLp://o[p.gov/abouL/ocr/pdfs/vawafaqs.pdf.
4
494 u.S. 872 (1990).
2

When resldenL 8arack Cbama lssued LxecuLlve Crder 13498, amendlng former resldenL Ceorge
W. 8ush's LxecuLlve Crder 13199 (LsLabllshmenL of WhlLe Pouse Cfflce of lalLh-8ased and
CommunlLy lnlLlaLlves), he underllned Lhe lmporLance of ensurlng LhaL parLnershlps beLween
governmenL and falLh-based lnsLlLuLlons can be creaLed and malnLalned effecLlvely whlle preservlng
our fundamenLal consLlLuLlonal commlLmenLs." 1he CLC Memo, however, sLands as one of Lhe mosL
noLable examples of Lhe 8ush AdmlnlsLraLlon's aLLempL Lo lmpose a consLlLuLlonally erroneous and
deeply harmful pollcy-8l8A should noL be lnLerpreLed or employed as a Lool for broadly overrldlng
sLaLuLory proLecLlons agalnsL rellglous dlscrlmlnaLlon or Lo creaLe a broad free exerclse rlghL Lo
recelve governmenL granLs wlLhouL complylng wlLh appllcable regulaLlons LhaL proLecL Laxpayers.

1he use of Lhe CLC Memo Lo Lrump Lhe recenLly adopLed non-dlscrlmlnaLlon provlslon ln vAWA
demonsLraLes LhaL lLs harm ls more Lhan speculaLlve. We accordlngly requesL LhaL Lhe admlnlsLraLlon
publlcly announce lLs lnLenLlon Lo revlew Lhe CLC Memo and, aL Lhe end of LhaL revlew, wlLhdraw Lhe
CLC Memo and expressly dlsavow lLs erroneous lnLerpreLaLlon of 8l8A.

1hank you ln advance for your conslderaLlon of our vlews.

8especLfully,

9Lo3
Afrlcan Amerlcan MlnlsLers ln AcLlon
Amerlcan-Arab AnLl-ulscrlmlnaLlon CommlLLee (AuC)
Amerlcan AssoclaLlon of unlverslLy Women (AAuW)
Amerlcan 8apLlsL Pome Mlsslon SocleLles
Amerlcan Clvll LlberLles unlon
Amerlcan lederaLlon of SLaLe, CounLy and Munlclpal Lmployees, AlL-ClC
Amerlcan PumanlsL AssoclaLlon
Amerlcan !ewlsh CommlLLee (A!C)
Amerlcans for 8ellglous LlberLy
Amerlcans unlLed for SeparaLlon of Church and SLaLe
AnLl-uefamaLlon League
Aslan Amerlcans Advanclng !usLlce (AA!C)
8'nal 8'rlLh lnLernaLlonal
8apLlsL !olnL CommlLLee for 8ellglous LlberLy
8end Lhe Arc: A !ewlsh arLnershlp for !usLlce
CaLhollcs for Cholce
CenLer for lnqulry
CenLral Conference of Amerlcan 8abbls
Councll for Secular Pumanlsm
ulsclples !usLlce AcLlon neLwork
Lqual arLners ln lalLh
lamlly LquallLy Councll
lemlnlsL Ma[orlLy
lrlends CommlLLee on naLlonal LeglslaLlon
Cay & Lesblan AdvocaLes & uefenders
Cay, Lesblan & SLralghL LducaLlon neLwork
CL81C uomesLlc vlolence ro[ecL
3

Padassah, 1he Women's ZlonlsL CrganlzaLlon of Amerlca, lnc.
Plndu Amerlcan loundaLlon
Puman 8lghLs Campalgn
lnsLlLuLe for Sclence and Puman values, lnc.
lnLerfalLh Alllance
!apanese Amerlcan ClLlzens League
!ewlsh Councll for ubllc Affalrs
!ewlsh Women lnLernaLlonal
kesheL
Lambda Legal
Lawyers' CommlLLee for Clvll 8lghLs under Law
League of unlLed LaLln Amerlcan ClLlzens
Legal MomenLum
Marrlage LquallLy uSA
MeLhodlsL lederaLlon for Soclal AcLlon
MlllLary AssoclaLlon of ALhelsLs & lreeLhlnkers
Musllm AdvocaLes
nA'AMA1 uSA
nAAC
naLlonal 8lack !usLlce CoallLlon
naLlonal CenLer for Lesblan 8lghLs
naLlonal CenLer for 1ransgender LquallLy
naLlonal Councll of !ewlsh Women (nC!W)
naLlonal LducaLlon AssoclaLlon
naLlonal Cay and Lesblan 1ask lorce
naLlonal CoallLlon AgalnsL uomesLlc vlolence
naLlonal Congress of 8lack Women
naLlonal LmploymenL Lawyers AssoclaLlon (nLLA)
naLlonal LaLlna lnsLlLuLe for 8eproducLlve PealLh
naLlonal neLwork Lo Lnd uomesLlc vlolence
naLlonal CrganlzaLlon for Women
naLlonal arLnershlp for Women & lamllles
naLlonal 8esource CenLer on uomesLlc vlolence
naLlonal Women's PealLh neLwork
arenLs, lamllles and lrlends of Lesblans and Cays (lLAC) naLlonal
eople lor Lhe Amerlcan Way
8alnbow ush CoallLlon
8ellglous CoallLlon for 8eproducLlve Cholce
Secular CoallLlon for Amerlca
SexuallLy lnformaLlon and LducaLlon Councll of Lhe u.S. (SlLCuS)
Slkh Amerlcan Legal uefense and LducaLlon lund (SALuLl)
Slkh Councll on 8ellglon and LducaLlon (SCC8L)
SocleLy for PumanlsLlc !udalsm
SouLh Aslan Amerlcans Leadlng 1ogeLher (SAAL1)
SouLhern overLy Law CenLer
1exas lalLh neLwork
1exas lreedom neLwork
4

1he Leadershlp Conference on Clvll and Puman 8lghLs
1he 8abblnlcal Assembly
1he Solomon ro[ecL
1he 1revor ro[ecL
1ransgender Law CenLer
1rue Colors lund
ulLravloleL
unlon for 8eform !udalsm
unlLarlan unlversallsL AssoclaLlon
unlLed Church of ChrlsL !usLlce & WlLness MlnlsLrles
unlLed MeLhodlsL Church, Ceneral 8oard of Church and SocleLy
v-uay
Women of 8eform !udalsm
Women's Alllance for 1heology, LLhlcs and 8lLual (WA1L8)
?WCA uSA

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