Lmst

The #FreeExercise clause prohibits the
govt from interfering wi/the right of individuals to practice #religion, while the establishment clause prevents the govt from establishing an official religion or favoring faith over nonbelief.

“This #Oklahoma case is the potential culmination of the Roberts court effort to cast the free-exercise clause in the starring role in our constitutional order, & offer the establishment clause only a cameo,”Driver said.

#law #SCOTUS #Constitution #ActivistCourt

The NLRB has concluded that it cannot force religious universities to recognize unions, and Marquette refuses to do so. But how can Marquette have a religious objection to unions when other Catholic universities voluntarily permit them?

#law #contracts #unions #labor #NLRB #religion #universities #FreeExercise

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/01/contracts-and-the-first-amendment-union-edition.html

Seal of the National Labor Relations Board

Post today on @MAHelfand's treatment of contractual and Free Exercise interests in cases governed by religious law or religious arbitral bodies. The key commonality is voluntarism.

#law #contracts #FreeExercise #religion #arbitration #scholarship #academia

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2024/09/michael-helfand-on-contracts-and-the-right-to-change-religions.html

#Homophobic #Maryland #Parents ask #SupremeCourt to hear case on #schools making #kids read #LGBTQ #affirming #books.

They claim their #freeexercise of #religion is violated without an option to opt out of learning #LGBTQ #relationships are equally #valid

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Maryland #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #Religion #Hategroups #RepublicanParty #Hate #Bigotry #Violence #Genocide #Discrimination #Transphobia #ThePartyOfHate #EmptyThePews

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/sep/13/parents-ask-supreme-court-to-hear-case-of-schools-/

#FreeExercise, the Respect for #Marriage Act, and Some Potential Surprises
Authors

#Congress recently passed the #RespectforMarriageAct to assure that certain #marriages would remain valid even if the #SupremeCourt were to overrule past precedent and hold that the #Constitution does not protect the right to #marry a partner of the #samesex or of a different #race. However, the Act, as written, may not offer protection for certain same-sex or #interracial ...

https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevstlrev/vol72/iss2/7/

The Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a contract between the state's Virtual Charter School Board and a Catholic charter school as violating both the state and federal constitutions.

#law #contracts #education #Oklahoma #RyanWalters #Religion #EstablishmentClause #FreeExercise

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2024/08/oklahoma-supreme-court-finds-contract-for-catholic-charter-school-violates-the-establishment-clause.html

#MSNBC analyst Angela-something characterized the Oklahoma law requiring teaching of the Bible in classrooms as an instance of the tension between the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment.

Er. . . what? That’s 180° wrong, and you don’t even have to be a lawyer to see it. If the law engages with Free Exercise at all (debatable), surely it’s violative — as it quite obviously is with respect to the Establishment Clause.

In other words: the two clauses are working together against this law. That’s the opposite of “tension”.

MSNBC, either you quoted Angela way out of context, or you need a new analyst (preferably one who took at least one con law class).

#constitution #Oklahoma #schools #1stAMENDMENT #FreeExercise #EstablishmentClause #religion #ChurchState #teachers #law #journalism

Somewhere I hope there are a couple dozen folks reading or hearing this story with glimmers of recognition.

I used the story of the Makah whale hunt as an example of religious liberty and church-state relations in a "Religion in America" class I was teaching back in 1999.

#ReligiousLiberty #FreeExercise #Makah #Whales #ConcordiaCollege

Obstructing #Police Clearing #Abortion Clinic Demonstrators Not Protected as #FreeExercise

https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2024/06/obstructing-police-clearing-abortion.html
#michigan #reproductivehealthcare #

NEW ESSAY!
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4829289#

It discusses establishment clause and free exercise clause challenges to early abortion bans

#FediLaw #FediProf #law #abortion #religion #freeExercise #Establishment

With its doctrine on free exercise exemptions in a state of disarray, the Supreme Court is very likely to reexamine its options.

Where should it land, and on what basis? In my forthcoming (and now updated and revised) article, "Free Exercise Uncertainty," I explore the possibilities. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4664985

#LawFedi #Law #SCOTUS #FirstAmendment #FreeExercise #ConstitutionalLaw #Religion #Originalism

Screenshot with the following excerpt from the article's abstract:

After detailing the many complications raised by the Court’s recent embrace of the “most favored nation” theory of religious exemptions—complications that make a wholesale reexamination of the exemption question seem inevitable—this article engages the broader issues of original meaning, history and tradition, and First Amendment consistency. Contrary to the conclusion reached by Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Thomas in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, the original meaning of the Free Exercise Clause likely concerned only the making of laws regulating religion as such, not the application of generally applicable laws to religiously motivated conduct. And consistent with the original meaning, judicial interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause prior to 1963 reflected an overwhelming history and tradition of rejecting claims to constitutional exemption rights.

But while neither original meaning nor a deeply rooted tradition supports religious exemption rights for individuals, normative arguments for such rights might lead the Court to take up Justice Barrett’s separate invitation in Fulton, joined by Justice Kavanaugh, to look for guidance in modern free speech doctrine concerning incidental burdens. This is the most promising prospect for exemption proponents, and it points towards an approach in which courts would apply modestly heightened scrutiny to denials of religious exemptions.

Smith's Last Stand? #FreeExercise and #FosterCare #Exceptionalism
University of Pennsylvania Journal of #ConstitutionalLaw, Vol. 24, No. 856, 2022
William & Mary #LawSchool Research Paper No. 09-483
52 Pages Posted: 7 Mar 2024
James G. Dwyer

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4748800

New from Zalman Rothschild:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4737027

#Law #LawFedi #LawProfs #FreeExercise #FirstAmendment

Fellow #LawProfs:

Looking for an excuse to take a break from exam grading?

Have I got the answer for you ...
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4664985

#Law #LawFedi #FirstAmendment #FreeExercise #SCOTUS

Screenshot with title and a portion of the article abstract:

Free Exercise Uncertainty: Original Meaning? History and Tradition? Pragmatic Nuance?

When a law not targeted at religion nonetheless has the incidental effect of substantially burdening a religious practice, does the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment provide a presumptive right to a religious exemption? Over the past six decades, the Supreme Court has shifted its answer to that question from “no” to “yes” to “no” to “maybe” without (1) overruling a single precedent, (2) engaging arguments about original meaning, (3) examining whether there is a deeply rooted history and tradition of recognizing constitutional exemption rights, or (4) considering analogies to its treatment of incidental burdens in other First Amendment contexts. The result is an unsettled free exercise jurisprudence that stands in considerable tension with recent developments elsewhere in constitutional law—developments that have seen the Court increasingly invoke original meaning and emphasize history and tradition—as well as with longstanding free speech doctrine.

After detailing the many complications raised by the Court’s recent embrace of the “most favored nation” theory of religious exemptions—complications that make a wholesale reexamination of the exemption question seem inevitable—this article engages the broader issues of original meaning, history and tradition, and First Amendment consistency....

2nd Circuit Remands #FreeExercise Claim of #Inmate Who Could Not Attend #Religious Services

https://flip.it/atVfwW

#Nurse Denied #Religious #Exemption From #VaccineMandate Loses Title VII and #FreeExercise Challenges
http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2023/02/nurse-denied-religious-exemption-from.html

Baker Cannot Refuse to Provide Non-expressive Cake to Transgender Customer
http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2023/01/baker-cannot-refuse-to-provide-non.html

No free speech violation bc not expressive: "We conclude that creating a pink cake with blue frosting is not inherently expressive and any message or symbolism it provides to an observer would not be attributed to the baker."

No free exercise violation bc anti-disc law is neutral & generally applicable

#LGBTQ #equality #religion #speech #FreeSpeech #FreeExercise
#law #lawfedi #lawprof

#freeexercise

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