Attorney General Bill Schuette has filed an amicus brief in support of Julea Ward's challenge to her dismissal from Eastern Michigan's masters in counseling program. Ward objected to counseling gay and lesbian patients in a manner that affirmed their sexual orientation. EMU said that Ward was in violation of university policies based on American Counseling Association standards. Ward claims that Eastern's disciplinary policies and codes of conduct are unconstitutional "speech codes" and infringements upon her Fourteenth Amendment Due Process rights; that Eastern retaliated against her for exercising her rights and violated her First Amendment right to be free of compelled speech and the Establishment Clause and engaged in viewpoint discrimination; and violated her Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection rights by dismissing her from the program on the basis of her Christian beliefs and expressions opposing homosexual conduct. Federal judge George Steeh rejected all of Ward's claims and granted summary judgment for Eastern. Specifically, he held that Eastern dismissed Ward because she violated ethical codes Eastern adopted pursuant to its broad powers to determine its curriculum and that the dismissal was entirely due to Ward's refusal to change her behavior, not her beliefs. The Free Press quoted WSU law professor Christopher Lund as saying that the case "is at the intersection of a lot of values."
The district court opinion is here. Attorney General Schuette's amicus brief is here (PDF). The amicus brief of the American Counseling Association is here, in support of Eastern Michigan (PDF). The ACLU amicus brief is here, in support of Eastern Michigan (PDF). The amicus brief of the National Association of Scholars is here, in support of Ward (PDF). The amicus brief of CMU, GVSU, MSU, NMU, OU, SVSU, U of M, WSU and WMU is here, in support of Eastern (PDF).
