Religious Institutions Update - April 2014

Nathan Adams IV is a Partner in the Tallahassee office

Timely Topics

Does a closely held for-profit corporation have a constitutionally or statutorily protected right to exercise religion under the Free Exercise Clause or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA)? The U.S. Supreme Court considered this question for the first time last month in oral argument in two cases: Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius. The federal government argued that the companies do not have any such rights, on the theory that engaging in for-profit activity is essentially inconsistent with the exercise of religion. RFRA itself states that it is to "be construed in favor of a broad protection of religious exercise to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of this chapter and the Constitution." But the government argued that it would be an unwarranted expansion of RFRA to allow for-profit corporations to make claims for religious exemptions to neutral laws of general application. According to the government, the price of for-profit commercial activity is secularism.

The owners of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation seek to operate their businesses in keeping with their sincerely held religious beliefs, including their opposition to select contraceptives they consider to be abortifacients. As a result, the two cases also concern whether, if the companies have free exercise rights, those rights are substantially burdened by the contraception mandate contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; if so, the third issue is whether the government has a compelling interest pursued in the least restrictive manner justifying it. Whatever your perspective on this issue, Justice Alito observed that the particular law allegedly infringing a for-profit company's religious exercise could as easily prohibit or require other activities implicating religious beliefs, such as kosher or halal slaughter methods recently outlawed as inhumane in Denmark.

Other companies that seek to operate their businesses in keeping with religious principles, and even non-profit entities such as healthcare providers sometimes criticized for allegedly operating like for-profit entities, will want to follow closely the outcome of these cases and potentially speak with church-state counsel about how best to exercise their religion consistent with the law.

Disaffiliating Church Loses Church Buildings, But Not Trust Property

In New Hope Lutheran Ministry v. Faith Lutheran Church of Great Falls, No. DA 13-0127...