Legal Issue(s): NA
Case Description
Anthony Schmitt is a Christian minister who, for over 10 years, voluntarily taught a prison ministry class, Quest, at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud from 2012 to 2023. Quest teaches men how to live lives of authentic manhood as modeled by Jesus Christ and directed by the Word of God. Mr. Schmitt was forced to stop, however, because the Acting Commissioner of the Department of Corrections stated that “[t]he program directly conflicts with the diversity, equity, and inclusivity values of the department by defining manhood, or the study of masculinity, through a biblical lens of what a ‘real man looks like.’” The district court agreed with the correctional facility, and Mr. Schmitt appealed to the Eighth Circuit. The Center, joined by a diverse group of six co-amici, filed an amicus brief in support of Mr. Schmitt’s free exercise rights arguing that the district court mistakenly applied to this nonincarcerated pastor the anemic free exercise standard applicable to prisoners and the vast (and appropriate) discretion wielded by a warden must be subject to strict scrutiny, with appropriate deference given to their asserted government interests in safety and “rehabilitation.”
