High Court Declines Religious Freedom Cases

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Religious Freedom Cases Declined by Court

Special Report - October 8, 2007
The U.S. Supreme Court began its fall term on October 1, by declining two religious freedom appeals from New York and California, allowing the lower court rulings to stand. The first case, filed by several Catholic and Baptist organizations, challenged a New York state law that requires employers to include contraception services as part of health insurance coverage for female employees. The law contains a provision exempting faith-based employers who oppose contraception on religious grounds, but none of the plaintiffs qualified for the exemption since they provided educational and social services and did not exclusively minister to those who shared similar spiritual beliefs, which is a requirement for the exemption. The New York Court of Appeals rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the religious exemption was unconstitutionally narrow, ruling that the law did not interfere with the religious freedom rights of the organizations involved.

The second case, filed by Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries against Contra Costa County in California, sought to overturn a policy that prohibited the religious group from using a public library meeting room. The lawsuit claimed that the library policy violated the plaintiff’s religious freedom rights by denying the church access to facilities open to other types of groups. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, ruled that the policy excluding religious groups from the meeting room was reasonable since the room constituted a “limited public forum.”

On a positive note, the Supreme Court also declined to consider an appeal that sought to have an Alabama law restricting sexually oriented businesses declared unconstitutional. The refusal means that a ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the anti-obscenity law will stand.