On Wednesday, the Supreme Court narrowly sided with a left-wing pro-LGBTQ group that is seeking official recognition from its Jewish university, although the court may revisit the decision in the future.
ABC News reports that the court voted 5-4 to lift a temporary hold on a lower court order requiring Yeshiva University in New York to formally recognize the group, YU Pride Alliance. However, the legal battle over the group’s claims against the university is ongoing in the state of New York.
The ruling, which saw Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh side with the court’s three liberal justices for a majority, was mostly made based strictly on procedure: The majority’s unsigned order determined that the university should go back to state court for a quick review and temporary relief as the case continues to unfold. In the event that state courts grant neither of these, the university will be allowed to return to the Supreme Court for a final verdict.
The minority, in an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, argued that the hold on the lower court ruling should have remained in place, as the university had successfully argued that its First Amendment rights of freedom of religion were violated by the order. The university is an Orthodox Jewish institution, which argued that recognition of the far-left group “would violate its sincere religious beliefs.”
The Constitution, Alito writes, “prohibits a State from enforcing its own preferred interpretation of Holy Scripture. Yet that is exactly what New York has done in this case, and it is disappointing that a majority of this Court refuses to provide relief.”
However, Alito noted in his opinion that the university would probably only have to recognize the group “for at least some period of time (and perhaps for a lengthy spell),” before the Supreme Court revisits the case to focus less on procedure and more on the actual substance of the case.