 | |
| Headquarters | 1900Pennsylvania Avenue NW,Washington, D.C. 20006 |
|---|---|
| Major practice areas | Religious freedom and otherFirst Amendment cases |
| Key people | Mark Rienzi (president and CEO) |
| Revenue | $18.8 million (2024)[1] |
| Date founded | 1994[2][3][4] |
| Founder | Kevin Hasson[2][3][4] |
| Company type | Non-profit organization |
| Website | becketfund |
Becket, also known as theBecket Fund for Religious Liberty, is anon-profitpublic interestlaw firm[4] based inWashington, D.C., with a mission to "protect the free expression of all faiths." Becket promotesaccommodationism and is active in the judicial system, the media, and in education.[5] Becket has an undefeated record at the Supreme Court, having won thirteen cases since 2012.[6]
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty was founded in 1994 byKevin Hasson, a lawyer who previously worked in theReagan AdministrationJustice Department underSamuel Alito, then-Assistant Attorney General and currentU.S. Supreme Court Justice. Subsequently, Hasson worked at the Washington law firmWilliams & Connolly, where he became well-known and controversial for defendingCatholic University's decision to fireCharles Curran for his opposition to Church doctrine despite his being a respected moral theologian.[7]
Hasson, who is Catholic, named The Becket Fund afterSaintThomas Becket, who was theArchbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170 during the reign ofHenry II of England.[8] A long series of quarrels with King Henry ended with Becket's murder and martyrdom at Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.[8] His last words were an acceptance of death in defense of the church of Christ.[8]
In 2011, Hasson stepped down as president of Becket, making way for William P. Mumma, who has since served as the president and chairman of the board.Kristina Arriaga, who was the executive director of Becket starting in 2010 and a member of the firm since 1995,[9] is now a senior advisor to the board.[10] Montse Alvarado, who started with Becket in 2009, replaced Arriaga as executive director in 2017.[11][12]Mark Rienzi now serves as president and CEO of Becket.
In 2021, the law firm reported having 63 employees and revenue of about $11.2 million, up from $7.5 million in 2020.[1] In 2014, the law firm had eleven litigating attorneys, and an estimated budget of five million dollars. The firm operates as a non-profit.[4]
The law firm's stated mission is to "protect the free expression of all religious traditions". The organization has indicated that it is their belief that "rights derive [...] not [from] the State, but a Source beyond the State's discretion."[13] The organization maintains that "freedom of religion is a basic human right that no government may lawfully deny; it is not a gift of the state, but instead is rooted in the inherent dignity of the human person". Becket also asserts that "[r]eligious people and institutions are entitled to participate in public life on an equal basis with everyone else."[14]
Becket has served as counsel at the Supreme Court for thirteen religious freedom cases since 2012, starting withHosanna-Tabor v. EEOC (2012). InHosanna-Tabor, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled (9–0) in favor of theministerial exception doctrine for the first time, which exempts religious institutions from anti-discrimination laws in hiring its "ministers".[15]
They also served as counsel to the plaintiffs inBurwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014)[16] in their fight to exempt themselves from having to pay for four different drugs and devices they deemed as abortifacients.[17] The court ruled 5–4 in favor ofHobby Lobby, asserting that family owned businesses have a right to operate in accordance with their conscience.[18][19]
Becket also litigatedHolt v. Hobbs (2015) at the Supreme Court. A Muslim inmate in the Arkansas prison system wanted to grow a beard according to his faith. When he was denied his request he wrote a petition to the Supreme Court asking to hear his case.[20] The Court agreed to take on the case and Becket represented Holt, citing that the denial of the plaintiff's right to grow his beard according to his faith is a clear violation of theReligious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The Supreme Court would later unanimously rule in support of Holt.[21] Becket served as counsel to theLittle Sisters of the Poor inLittle Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania (2020).[22] That same term, Becket represented Our Lady of Guadalupe School inOur Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru (2020).[23]
Becket has also filed petitions to the Supreme Court in two cases involving theUnited States Department of Health and Human Services'contraceptive mandate on employer-paid health insurance coverage of contraception, which had at the time been consolidated intoZubik v. Burwell,Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell,[24] andHouston Baptist University and East Baptist University v. Burwell.
In 2021, Becket litigated at the Supreme CourtFulton v. City of Philadelphia (2021).[25] In a 9–0 ruling, the Court held that theCity of Philadelphia could not refuse to contract with Catholic Social Services (CSS) because of CSS's rejection ofsame-sex couples as foster parents, a violation of the city's non-discrimination requirements.[26]
In 2025, Becket litigatedCatholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin (2025). The Supreme Court ruled in a 9–0 decision that Wisconsin's denial to give an unemployment tax exemption was unconstitutional because it discriminated against religious organizations based on their religious activities. Later that year, the Supreme Court held in a 6–3 decision inMahmoud v. Taylor (2025) that a school district's policy of not permitting school curriculum opt-outs for LGBTQ+ curriculum violated the parents' right tofree exercise of religion under theFirst Amendment.[27]
List of Supreme Court cases:
Becket has represented groups and persons from many different religious traditions; its founder, Kevin Hasson, claims that Becket defends the "religious rights of people from 'A to Z,' from Anglicans to Zoroastrians."[28] Previous clients also included the City of Cranston[29] in the attempt to preserve the Prayer Banner atCranston High School West.[30]
In 1997, theRigdon v. Perry case set a precedent that the military could not ban chaplains from following the directives of their religious leaders.[31]
In 2010, Becket representedSacramento-area public school students who sought to continue reciting the current form of thePledge of Allegiance (including the words "under God") inNewdow v. Carey, the second case brought byMichael Newdow seeking to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Becket also represented intervenors in the challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance inHanover, New Hampshire public schools.[32] Both cases were resolved in favor of the current Pledge language.
In 2012, Becket represented a mosque inMurfreesboro, Tennessee, that was denied the right to use its building by a local court after complaints that the mosque was promoting terrorism.[33] Becket has also litigated on behalf of prisoners who seek to continue following their beliefs in prison. Becket has sought to ensure that observant Jewish prisoners are provided withkosher food in every prison in the United States. In the case ofMoussazadeh v.Texas Department of Criminal Justice, theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the right of a Jewish prisoner to receive kosher food in a Texas prison.[34][35]
From 2016 to 2019, Becket representedLehigh County, Pennsylvania when it was sued by theMadison, Wisconsin basedatheist advocacy organizationFreedom From Religion Foundation for having a cross on its Countyseal and flag.Edward G. Smith, a federal judge with theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania inPhiladelphia, citing the 1971 case ofLemon v. Kurtzman ruled that the addition of a cross on the county's seal was unconstitutional in 2017, but the County appealed the decision. In 2019 theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, citingAmerican Legion v. American Humanist Association, a ruling earlier that year, ruled that the presence of a cross in the County seal did not violate the constitution since it commemorated the history of Lehigh County.[36][37][38]
In 2022, the firm began representingYeshiva University, aModern Orthodox Jewish university in New York City, in a case where undergraduate students sued the university for refusing to recognize anLGBTQ student group.[39] A New York court ruled that the university must recognize the undergraduate Pride Alliance in June, 2022; the university appealed to theU.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to block the ruling in August 2022.[40]
Another significant area of litigation for Becket has been land use by religious organizations. Becket brought the first case under theReligious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and has been involved with such litigation throughout the United States.[41]
In 2021, Becket began representing the Apache Stronghold, a group of Arizona Apaches who sued the United States government to prevent the opening of a Copper Mine in Oak Flat, Arizona, a location sacred to Apaches. In September 2024, Becket petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appellate court ruling allowing the federal government to build a copper mine on an Apache worship site. Becket argues that the government would be violating the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion if the mine is developed. If a mine is built, it will create a crater two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep that would destroy the Apache worship site located in the Oak Flat Campground.[42][43][44]
While Becket typically litigates in favor of religious liberty claims, it occasionally intervenes in favor of the state to oppose free exercise challenges. One example came when Jewish plaintiffs challenged Indiana's restrictive abortion statutes afterDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, claiming that Indiana's laws limiting abortion infringed on Jewish religious belief (which the plaintiffs contended require that abortion be available in most or all situations). In contrast to their normally broad defense of religious liberty claimants, Becket here argued that the Jewish plaintiffs, who had won a preliminary challenge in lower court, were "insincere" in their stated religious beliefs and that even if their religious beliefs were sincere Indiana was justified in overriding them to protect "innocent life".[45]
Becket has represented Muslim clients in theEuropean Court of Human Rights, and assisted in pre-litigation and litigation in Europe, Asia, and Australia.[46]