The Universal Life Church Ministries won a victory in their ongoing lawsuit against a number of Tennessee state officials, allowing their case to restore the rights of their online-ordained minister to solemnize legal marriages to continue to move forward in federal district court.
SEATTLE, June 1, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Universal Life Church and its ministers won another victory in their ongoing lawsuit against the State of Tennessee on Friday, May 27 that will allow them to continue to pursue their case in District Court.
The published decision in Universal Life Church Monastery v. Nabors (originating case No. 2:19-cv-00049) from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected a series of arguments made by various Tennessee state and county officials who had hoped to remove themselves as defendants in the ongoing litigation.
Ultimately, the panel of judges unanimously decided that the case can proceed against the district attorneys representing these areas as well as the Putnam County Clerk.
The Universal Life Church Ministries (ULCM) first filed the case in federal district court in 2019, when the Tennessee state legislature passed a law declaring that ministers who were ordained online were not permitted to solemnize marriages anywhere in the state.
As a result of the law, ULCM's ministers were told they could not perform weddings for their congregants and, in at least one instance, faced criminal charges for attempting to do so.
The ULCM quickly challenged that law for violating ULCM's and its ministers' constitutional rights, and shortly thereafter succeeded in convincing the federal district court to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the new law from going into effect. In effect, the new ruling from the Sixth Circuit leaves that injunction in place and returns the case back to the original district court where the merits of the case can be heard and decided.
In a statement, ULCM's attorney Ambika Kumar of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP said, "We are grateful for the court's recognition that Universal Life Church and its ministers are entitled to have their claims against Tennessee's online-ordination statute heard. The state can no longer—as it has done for nearly three years—delay a court's review of this patently unconstitutional law. We look forward to vindicating our clients' rights to solemnize marriages in Tennessee, a right that other ministers already have."
The Universal Life Church Ministries is a nondenominational religious organization based in Seattle, Washington. It is perhaps most famous for its provision of ordinations online at http://www.ULC.org. The ULCM has ordained over 20 million ministers throughout its history. Many of those ministers go on to perform wedding ceremonies, in addition to other religious ceremonies and general ministry work.
Media Contact
Br. G. Martin, Universal Life Church Ministries, 1 2062851086, [email protected]
SOURCE Universal Life Church Ministries
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