Ryan Gardner (JD '16) Joins Legal Teams for Supreme Court Cases International Partners for Ethic Care v. Ferguson and Missionaries of St. John the Baptist v. Frederic

Pepperdine Caruso Law alumnus Ryan Gardner (JD' 16) with his firm First Liberty Institute has joined the legal teams for two Supreme Court cases, International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson and Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist, Inc. v. Frederic that will be argued this term. 

At issue in International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson is whether parents have standing to challenge a Washington State law that essentially allows the state to hide runaway children from their parents if the children run away based on a disagreement with their parents over gender identity issues.  The law also allows the state to refer the children for medical treatment related to their gender identity without parental knowledge or consent.  Gardner's firm joined the legal team for the case after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case last June.  His firm is partnering with Gene Schaerr of Schaerr | Jaffe to argue the case.  The case is set to be argued on December 7.  

The issue presented by the Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist, Inc. v. Frederic is whether a land-use regulation that prohibits a religious institution from building a religious structure on its own property constitutes a “substantial burden” on religious exercise under the Substantial Burden Provision of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).  It is the first time the Supreme Court will interpret RLUIPA’s substantial burden provision in the land use context since the law’s creation 26 years ago.  The religious structure in question is a small grotto of the Virgin Mary that would be around 625 square feet in size.  After the City of Park Hills, Kentucky approved the project, neighbors filed suit to stop it and convinced the Kentucky Supreme Court that RLUIPA did not protect the construction of the grotto.  Gardner's firm is partnering with John Franklin Bash from Quinn Emanuel to argue the case.  The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on October 1 and has not yet set a date for oral argument.