BANGOR, ME – Liberty Counsel has appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in response to a federal judge denying Calvary Chapel Belfast a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the University of Maine System (UMS) from discriminating against the church in a property sale over its religious beliefs. The church sought an injunction after UMS rescinded the church’s winning bid for the Hutchinson Center building after public, legislative, and donor outcry over its Christian beliefs. Subsequently, UMS held a second, rigged bidding process that awarded the building to a secular bidder. 

Despite the evidence of religious discrimination, federal Judge Stacey Neumann denied the preliminary injunction request citing a lack of “direct or circumstantial evidence” connecting UMS’ actions to the community’s religious animus. Judge Neumann also concluded that UMS’ deviation from its bidding procedures in this case was not evidence of discriminatory animus.

In an April evidentiary hearing, testimony showed that UMS officials used a “cost-savings” ploy to hide their real reason to discriminate against Calvary Chapel Belfast when it rescinded the church’s winning bid. The evidence shows that the religious opposition came from many sources threatening to withdraw financial and legislative support from UMS if it did not rescind the award to Calvary Chapel Belfast, including long-time donors, decades-long employees, legacy alumni, and Maine legislators. UMS officials then testified that they rescinded the bid on grounds the church did not account for the expense of leasing space for the university’s network Internet hub housed on the property. Yet, in the same testimony, they stated that the church’s bid did in fact explicitly account for keeping the hub in place for free that would save the university on leasing costs while avoiding the other option of incurring $500,000 in moving costs.

Additional testimony from UMS officials revealed that they deviated from their own procedures by considering appeals from the two other bidders that were submitted beyond the deadline while the appeals themselves failed to identify specific problems or objections to the terms or conditions of the sale.

Under the Free Exercise Clause, state actions must act neutrally toward religious beliefs. Liberty Counsel argued that there was no reason to rescind Calvary Chapel’s award since the cited Internet Hub deficiency “did not exist” making the basis for rescinding the church’s bid just a ploy to discriminate.

The appeal will seek to restore the church as the rightful awardee from UMS’ first, non-discriminatory bidding process.

Although Judge Neumann has denied the injunction request, the property now comes with a notice to any potential purchaser that the church’s lawsuit may “unwind” any sale.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The University of Maine System engaged in discriminatory actions against Calvary Chapel Belfast. The church participated in the bidding processes in good faith, but the university unlawfully rescinded their winning bid over its religious beliefs under the excuse of procedural deficiencies. Such discrimination is unlawful and Liberty Counsel will continue to fight these unconstitutional actions.”

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