Supreme Court sidesteps the free exercise claim and grants government agencies the power to determine whether to apply the ACA contraceptive mandates to employers.
Tag: Hobby Lobby
Court avoids free exercise minefield of Washington pharmacy case
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving a Washington state requirement that all pharmacies must fill contraceptives regardless of the religious objections of the owners.
Seeking Peaceful Solutions When Accommodating You Doesn’t Accommodate Me
By recognizing the sincerity of opposing positions on the issues and deriving specific areas of accommodation, the conversation moves from ideology and conflict to one of mutual and practical problem-solving.
Bill Would Ban Gov’t Discrimination Based on Religious Views of Marriage
Bills have been introduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress that would prohibit the Federal government from discriminating against individuals, associations, and businesses that act in accordance with their religious beliefs about marriage.
Trend-Watch: Is a second Hobby Lobby Case in the works?
Is a second Hobby Lobby case in the works? Meggan Sommerville is a sixteen-year Hobby Lobby employee in Aurora, Illinois who has been denied access to the store’s restroom because she is transgendered. Sommerville underwent legal gender transition in 2010 but has not yet had gender-reassignment surgery.
Opinion on the Hobby Lobby Decision: More Equal Than Others
By Jason Hines – Today the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Hobby Lobby and other closely held corporations can refuse to cover certain forms of contraception in the insurance plans they provide to employees because of their “religious beliefs.” Now I put religious beliefs in quotes because despite the Court’s decision, I refuse to admit that corporations, created in order to separate themselves from the people who create them, can have religious beliefs.
Supreme Court Rules Closely-Held Corporations Have Religious Rights
Most business owners set up corporations as legal alter-egos to avoid being held personally responsible if their businesses get sued, but in this case, the employers (in Hobby Lobby, Conestoga Wood, and Mardel) are saying that their corporations can still manifest the owners’ religious beliefs even if it comes at the potential expense of their employees. The Supreme Court agrees.
Hobby Lobby Case: How Will the Court Decide?
By Michael Peabody – On March 25, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores (transcript and audio). According to a number of court pundits, the court is expected to split with four justices on each side and the deciding vote is predicted to fall to Anthony Kennedy. Perfectly projecting the Court’s decision is not much easier than predicting a perfect NCAA March Madness bracket, but here are some potential outcomes for the case.
Arguments scheduled on whether RFRA allows employers to limit contraceptive coverage
The United States Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments on the Hobby Lobby case for March 25, 2014. According to SCOTUSBlog, the issue is: “Whether the [RFRA], which provides that the government ‘shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion’ unless that burden is the least restrictive means to further a compelling governmental interest,…
Reviewing 2013 – The Year in Religious Liberty
By Stephen N. Allred – Ultimately, 2013 was a rough year for Christians in many parts of the world who were harassed, raped, murdered and persecuted on account of their faith. In comparison, American Christians, though they faced some challenges, fared rather well.