The launch of the Legal Updates livestream in 2024 provided members and supporters with an inside look at TST’s legal efforts, including updates on ongoing cases and strategies for the future. Featuring TST co-founder Lucien Greaves and attorneys Matthew Kezhaya and Stu de Haan, the livestream became an engaging forum for discussing legal strategies, addressing challenges, and answering member questions. We are excited to expand this programming in 2025 to keep our community informed and engaged.
Catch up on all the TST Legal Update livestream recordings on The Satanic Temple TV!
TST’s legal team mounted a decisive defense of religious freedom during the Atlanta congregation’s annual Black Mass, transforming baseless legal threats from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta into a resounding victory. In a legal demand letter, the Archdiocese alleged—without a shred of evidence—that TST Atlanta had stolen their ‘consecrated host’ crackers in an apparent attempt to disrupt the event through legal intimidation. TST’s general counsel Matthew Kezhaya dismantled these unfounded claims with a swift and compelling response, forcing the Archdiocese’s legal team to immediately retreat. This incident demonstrated how quickly our members’ religious freedoms can come under threat without vigilant legal advocacy, emphasizing the vital role our legal team plays in preserving those rights.
TST’s legal challenge in Boston may not have yielded a courtroom win in 2024, but it illuminated the deep-rooted religious favoritism entrenched in the U.S. judicial system. In August, the First Circuit upheld Boston’s exclusion of TST speakers from delivering invocations. The court reframed what was once a clear violation of the Establishment Clause as acceptable governance under the guise of tradition, a shift that TST’s persistent legal efforts will continue to challenge.
Through all of our legal battles, successful or not, TST exposed the pervasive religious favoritism entrenched in judicial decisions and the complicity of courts in reinforcing Christian hegemony. TST’s legal challenges have forced the judiciary to confront claims of religious favoritism not as objections from atheists seeking to undermine faith, but as rightful demands for equal treatment from a recognized religious organization. Cases like TST v. Boston highlighted the courts’ willingness to uphold privileges for majority faiths while denying equal rights to minority religions, reinforcing that the defense of true religious freedoms is fundamentally a battle against institutionalized favoritism—a fight TST is uniquely positioned to lead in 2025.
