Argued yesterday before the Supreme Court, the case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC pits the quasi-religion of employment discrimination law against organized religion of every other sort. Guess which side the Obama administration comes down on? I explain in a new op-ed at The Daily Caller. More background: Christopher Lund (Wayne State), “In Defense of the Ministerial Exception”, North Carolina Law Review/SSRN. And per Rick Garnett at NRO “Bench Memos,” the Court’s justices in their questioning yesterday did not appear friendly toward the idea of overthrowing the exception (& followup). According to the L.A. Times and other reporting, Justice Kagan described the Justice Department’s position as “amazing.” More: Marcia McCormick, Workplace Prof (linking to transcript of oral argument, PDF)(& welcome Damon Root/Reason “Hit and Run” readers).
2 Comments
I must be missing something in this. Why would I hire a plumber to build me some bookcases. So, why did the school hire the lady if they thought she could not teach religion?
““We prayed, and we feel God told us to hire one applicant rather than another” is an argument that’s hard for secular courts to reasonably evaluate.”
No it’s not. Churches (etc.) cannot exempt themselves from secular law. It is done through a process of law and courts.
What does this have to do with Congress making law? Interesting take on the issue here:
http://www.federalistblog.us/2011/10/wrong-questions-in-hosanna-tabor-religious-freedom-case/