Hickenlooper v. Freedom From Religion Foundation

Four Colorado taxpayers and the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed suit in state court seeking a declaration that the Governor’s proclamation of a Day of Prayer violated the “no-preference” clause of Article II, Section 4 of the Colorado Constitution, which states that “[n]or shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship.”

The Court of Appeals held that the plaintiffs had standing and that the proclamations violated the Colorado Constitution. Hickenlooper v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, 412 P.3d 392 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012). The Governor asked the Colorado Supreme Court to reverse.

The ACLU of Colorado filed an amicus brief, along with Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. The brief urged the state supreme court to maintain a broad view of taxpayers’ standing to bring claims that government officials have violated the state constitution. The brief also urges the court to interpret the state constitution independently of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment.

The Colorado Supreme Court reversed, by a 5-2 vote. It held that the minor incidental cost connected with the Governor's proclamation was a de minimis expenditure that was not sufficient for taxpayer standing. Hickenlooper v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, 338 P.3d 1002 (Colo. 2014).