Citing arguments that the state “looked the other way with secular groups that also receive state funding,” a trio of U.S. Ninth Circuit Court judges have granted a Medford faith-based organization an emergency injunction allowing it to resume collecting state grants.

The order issued Aug. 8 also fast-tracks the appeals process for Youth 71Five Ministries, whose lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Education director alleging religious discrimination was dismissed last month in U.S. District Court in Medford.

Written by Circuit Judge Kenneth Kiyul Lee of San Diego — who heard the case with judges Danielle J. Forrest of Portland and Bridget S. Bade of Phoenix, Arizona — the order granted the emergency injunction, allowing the Christian organization to receive the $410,000 in grants it had been conditionally awarded prior to claims by the Oregon education department that the organization violated new eligibility requirements for the 2023-25 grant cycle.

Lee’s order indicates the three Trump-appointed circuit court judges believe the Medford faith-based organization’s pending appeal is likely to succeed.

“We grant the injunction and set an expedited briefing schedule for the appeal,” Lee writes. “We hold that 71Five is likely to succeed on the merits.”

Lee writes that Oregon violated a clause of the First Amendment requiring the government to treat secular and religious groups equally in the way it applied its non-discrimination policy.

“But Oregon has not applied its non-discrimination policy neutrally, as it continues to fund secular organizations that favor certain groups based on race and gender identification in violation of the same non-discrimination policy that Oregon relied on in denying funding to 71Five,” the order states.

Since 2017, Youth 71Five, which serves Jackson and Josephine counties, has received two-year grants through the state’s Youth Community Investment grant program. For the 2023-25 grant cycle, however, the state added a new eligibility requirement the order calls the “Certification Rule.”

The Certification Rule required applicants to certify that the agency “does not discriminate in its employment practices, vendor selection, subcontracting or service delivery with regard to race, ethnicity, religion, age, political affiliation, gender, disability, sexual orientation, national origin or citizenship status.”

An anonymous complaint about the organization’s hiring practices prompted the state to rescind Youth 71Five’s grants on grounds it violated the Certification Rule when it certified to the state that it does not discriminate. 

Youth 71Five serves youths of all backgrounds without regard to religion, according to a synopsis in the court order, but the organization asks its employees and volunteers to “subscribe and adhere without mental reservation” to a statement of Christian faith.

Lee’s order claims that the state unfairly “looked the other way” with other organizations, according to a copy of the Aug. 8 appellate court order.

“Although Oregon strictly enforced the Certification Rule against 71Five, it has looked the other way with secular groups that also receive state funding. … For example, a group named Ophelia’s Place continues to receive funds even though it provides services only to ‘girl-identifying youth.'”

The appellate order goes on to mention two other secular organizations the judges claim also violate the Certification Rule: The Black Parent Initiative of Portland — which “only serves African and African American families despite the Certification Rule’s prohibition on race-based distinctions,” Lee states — and Adelante Mujeres of Forest Grove, which “only serves Latina woman and families in violation of the Certification Rule’s prohibitions on both gender and race-based discrimination.”

“Yet the state continues to fund these groups while it has revoked 71Five’s grants,” Lee wrote.

The order contrasts with U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke’s opinion and order filed in late June, which claimed the secular groups did not violate the rule because they were acting “in culturally responsive ways.” Lee rejected the argument because “good intentions cannot justify the unequal treatment of religious organizations.

“The district court erred in holding that Oregon’s actions were neutral,” Lee wrote.

Copies of court filings were made available on the website of Youth 71Five’s lawyers, the Alliance Defending Freedom. It describes itself as “the world’s largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, marriage and family and parental rights.”

Youth 71Five is a nonprofit Christian ministry that focuses on services and mentoring to at-risk youths. It was known as Rogue Valley Youth For Christ until 2018, when the local organization split from the national Youth For Christ to focus on helping young people in their 20s. The national Youth For Christ had shifted its focus to young people ages 11 to 19, according to an earlier Rogue Valley Times story on the local organization’s plans to build a new vocational shop in Medford.

It takes its name from the fifth verse in the 71st Psalm: “Lord God, you are my hope. I have trusted you since I was young.”

The circuit judges granted the request to expedite the appeal, and placed the case on the November calendar. It set a due date of Aug. 26 for the opening brief, Sept. 13 for the answering brief and Sept. 23 for an optional reply brief.

“No streamlined extensions of time to file a brief will be approved,” the order states.