Eminent Domain

Frequent Confirm Them contributor Quin Hillyer has this piece discussing a Summer decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The case concerned a campus chapter of the Christian Legal Society at the Southern Illinois University School of Law. They were stripped of their official student organization recognition after a complaint that they violated the school anti-discrimination policy. The group tried to get an injunction to restore their status while the lawsuits proceeded. The district court denied the injunction.

Hillyer examines the majority opinion written by Judge Diane Sykes. She and Judge Kanne said that the lower court was wrong to deny the injunction. As Hillyer writes and quotes...

But a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit voted 2-1 July 10 to grant the injunction, reasoning quite cogently that "the loss of First Amendment freedoms is presumed to constitute an irreparable injury for which money damages are not adequate, and injunctions protecting First Amendment freedoms are always in the public interest."

When the case came down, I wrote my own post about it, looking at both the majority and the dissent. You can find it here.


Hillyer makes a point that I also made. Judge Sykes is reportedly high on the short list of potential Supreme Court nominees. This should not surprise anyone. Here is what I wrote in my previous post...

I think that this decision only makes her stock rise for a potential Supreme Court nomination. Religious liberty has become a big issue with many folks on the Right in the last decade or so. If the White House gets another vacancy in the next two and a half years and they want to appoint a woman, Judge Sykes will be high on the short list.

I feel strange quoting myself. I still do think that Hillyer and I are right. If a vacancy comes before the presidential election, Judge Sykes is a good bet.