Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/09pdf/08-1371.pdf
Page Number: 76

28 

CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOC. CHAPTER OF UNIV. OF CAL., 
HASTINGS COLLEGE OF LAW v. MARTINEZ 
ALITO, J., dissenting 

them  to  create  the  “social  opportunities”  they  desire  by
forming whatever groups they wish to create. 

Second, the Court approves the accept-all-comers policy
because it is easier to enforce than the Nondiscrimination 
Policy that it replaced.  It would be “a daunting labor,” the 
Court  warns,  for  Hastings  to  try  to  determine  whether
a group excluded a member based on belief as opposed to 
status.  Ante,  at  22;  see  also  ante,  at  2–3,  n. 1  (opinion 
of  STEVENS,  J.)  (referring  to  the  “impossible  task  of 
separating  out  belief-based  from  status-based  religious 
discrimination”).

This is a strange argument, since the Nondiscrimination 
Policy  prohibits  discrimination  on  substantially  the  same 
grounds  as  the  antidiscrimination  provisions  of  many
States,7  including  California,  and  except  for  the  inclusion
of the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orien-
tation,  the  Nondiscrimination  Policy  also  largely  tracks
federal antidiscrimination laws.8  Moreover, Hastings now 
willingly  accepts  greater  burdens  under  its  latest  policy, 
which  apparently  requires  the  school  to  distinguish  be-
tween  certain  “conduct  requirements”  that  are  allowed 
and  others  that  are  not.  Nor  is  Hastings  daunted  by  the
labor  of  determining  whether  a  club  admissions  exam
legitimately  tests  knowledge  or  is  a  pretext  for  screening 

—————— 

7 See,  e.g.,  Cal.  Gov.  Code  Ann.  §12940(a)  (West  2005);  N. J.  Stat.
Ann.  §10:5–12(a)  (West  2002);  N. Y.  Exec.  Law  Ann.  §296(1)(a)  (West
2010). 

8 See,  e.g.,  Civil  Rights  Act  of  1964,  42  U. S. C.  §2000e  et  seq.  (Title
VII);  Civil  Rights  Act  of  1964,  78  Stat.  252,  as  amended,  42  U. S. C.
§2000d  et  seq.  (Title  VI);  Age  Discrimination  in  Employment  Act  of
1967,  81  Stat.  602,  as  amended,  29  U. S. C.  §621  et  seq.;  Americans 
with  Disabilities  Act  of  1990,  104  Stat.  337,  42  U. S.  C.  §12101  et  seq.
However, Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination on the
basis  of  religion,  provides  that  religious  associations  and  schools  can 
hire on the basis of religion and that any employer can hire on the basis
of  religion  if  it  is  a  bona  fide  occupational  qualification.    42  U. S. C. 
§§2000e–1(a), 2000e–2(e).