Vol. 39, No. 2- Religious Freedom

Featured

Civil Rights & Constitution

Reconciling Equal Protection and Religious Liberty

by Richard T. Foltin

When the U.S. Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in 1993—by a 97–3 vote in the Senate and by unanimous voice vote in the House, quickly followed by President William Clinton’s signing the bill into law—it seemed a rare moment (albeit, not as rare then as it would be today) of congressional consensus.

Civil Rights & Constitution

Religion Governed by the Rule of Law

by Marci A. Hamilton, Lana Seligsohn

The Free Exercise Clause does not create a right to avoid neutral, generally applicable laws. There is no First Amendment right to avoid the law that applies to every other actor. The Supreme Couart affirmed this principle in Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), often referred to as the “peyote decision.”

Civil Rights & Constitution

Anti-Muslim Legislation and Its Hopeful Demise

by Gadeir Abbas

Since 2010, seventy-eight anti-Muslim bills or constitutional amendments have been introduced in thirty-one states and the U.S. Congress.

Civil Rights & Constitution

Much Ado About Nothing? Religious Freedom and the Contraceptive-Coverage Benefit

by Aram A. Schvey

August 1, 2012: A date that will live in infamy. Or so some religious conservatives contend. Matt Smith, president of the Catholic Advocate, solemnly declared that “August first will be remembered as the day our most cherished liberty was thrown in a government dumpster and hauled away.”

Civil Rights & Constitution

The Spread of Conscience Clause Legislation

by Claire Marshall

Over the past four decades, state and federal law have undergone a proliferation in conscience clause legislation, pitting individual religious autonomy against the public interest, most notably in the areas of education and health care.

Civil Rights & Constitution

Beating Plowshares Into Swords

by Richard B. Katskee

Religious groups have traditionally played a central role in providing social services such as homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and substance-abuse counseling; and the federal government has long contracted with such organizations to administer government-funded programs to aid the least well off.

Civil Rights & Constitution

Divining the Scope of the Ministerial Exception

by Leslie C. Griffin

In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 132 S. Ct. 694 (2012), the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the First Amendment requires a “ministerial exception” that allows religious employers to discriminate against their employees without any court review.

Civil Rights & Constitution

Should Public Buildings Be Used for Worship?

by Stephen J. Wermiel

Should public school buildings be home to weekend worship services? This question sits at the increasingly well-traveled but difficult-to-navigate intersection of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Civil Rights & Constitution

Honoring Americans United

by Alexander Wohl

There are few subjects within the individual rights spectrum that offer as many challenges as the First Amendment’s religion clauses. The mix of ideology, morality, and freedom of conscience, combined with the inherent tension between the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses, makes religious liberty one of the most controversial and combustible of our individual freedoms.

American Bar Association TM American Bar Association

Vol. 39, No. 2- Religious Freedom

Introduction: Religious Freedom At a Crossroads

Featured

Reconciling Equal Protection and Religious Liberty

Religion Governed by the Rule of Law

Anti-Muslim Legislation and Its Hopeful Demise

Much Ado About Nothing? Religious Freedom and the Contraceptive-Coverage Benefit

The Spread of Conscience Clause Legislation

Beating Plowshares Into Swords

Divining the Scope of the Ministerial Exception

Should Public Buildings Be Used for Worship?

Honoring Americans United