Biblical manhood curricula can be found just about anywhere—churches, small groups, and even prisons. For years, Anthony Schmitt taught a Quest course to inmates within the Minnesota Department of Corrections, until an MDOC official “objected to Schmitt’s religious viewpoint” and banned any further teaching. As the Eighth Circuit opinion noted,
the MDOC did not oppose Mr. Schmitt teaching generally about “manhood, or the study of masculinity,” but instead objected to Schmitt discussing the topic “through a biblical lens of what a ‘real man looks like’” or through what the MDOC perceived as “through a lens of discrimination, exclusivity, gender biases, and stereotypes.
Having failed to “satisfy the threshold Turner factor,” this clear-cut case of viewpoint discrimination has been remanded to the district court for a full adjudication of the case on the merits while reinstating Mr. Schmitt’s right to teach the Quest program at MDOC in full as the case proceeds.
The Center filed a joint amicus brief in support and will continue to monitor the case as it unfolds.
