TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

National Group Challenges Ruling in Adoption Case

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jul 22, 2022
News Type: Legal News

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is challenging a special three-judge panel decision that a Knoxville couple could not sue a state-funded foster care agency for religious discrimination, WBIR reports. The couple, who are Jewish, were in the process of adopting a child when they were turned away by Holston United Methodist Home for Children, which would have provided training required by the state. They sued alleging they were denied services because of their faith. They also claimed the state violated equal protection guarantees in the state constitution by funding an agency that discriminates based on religion, and that a 2020 state law allowing private adoption agencies to deny adoptions on moral and religious grounds is unconstitutional. A panel comprised of judges Roy B. Morgan Jr. and Carter S. Moore and Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle rejected the claim saying the law had nothing to do with the agency's refusal and that the issue was resolved when the couple later became foster parents.

Law-Related Blogs AND PODCASTS

Check out other law-related blogs and podcasts generated from the Tennessee legal community or of interest to the Tennessee lawyers.