Assignment for Monday November 1

 3. Casebook p. 1447-1468; Mahanoy School District

 

We will also finish our discussion of McCullen and Phelps.

Free Speech Article to Read Over Fall Break

Here is Bari Weiss's incredible article, We Got Here Because of Cowardice, We Get Out With Courage, from the November Commentary issue:

 https://www.commentary.org/articles/bari-weiss/resist-woke-revolution/?fbclid=IwAR0eb7Lm76QdUcfCCGqFNqjuTWFbZtAPDSOrOzkI6RT5pt5YHF2TMtz5JMs

 

Money Quote about Woke Ideology:

"Ideas are replaced with identity. Forgiveness is replaced with punishment. Debate is replaced with de-platforming. Diversity is replaced with homogeneity of thought. Inclusion, with exclusion.

In this ideology, speech is violence. But violence, when carried out by the right people in pursuit of a just cause, is not violence at all. In this ideology, bullying is wrong, unless you are bullying the right people, in which case it’s very, very good. In this ideology, education is not about teaching people how to think, it’s about reeducating them in what to think. In this ideology, the need to feel safe trumps the need to speak truthfully." 

Read the whole thing as we get ready to study freedom of speech and thought.

Class Schedule

  Just a reminder that we will not be meeting for the next two weeks.

1. Monday and Tuesday October 11 and 12--I am speaking at BYU Law

2. Monday October 18--Fall Break

3. Tuesday October 19--You voted to cancel this one.

Enjoy your well-earned break! Relax a little and get some work done (exams are around the corner). 

 So here is what the syllabus says about our schedule this semester:

"This class will meet this Fall on Monday and Tuesday from 1:30 p.m. until 2:55 p.m. Notice that this class meets for an extra 10 minutes each session. In addition, I am assigning videos of my teaching many of the cases we will read this semester. This will allow us to cancel 6 to 8 classes during the Semester without the need for make-up sessions. I will need to cancel some classes due to my being out of town speaking at other law schools. If possible, I will try to end this course one week early to give you extra time to prepare for exams."

 So, here is what I know so far. I will be speaking at BYU law school on October 12 and traveling to Provo on October 11.  Thus, there will be no classes on Monday October 11 and Tuesday October 12.

Are there any classes that y'all would like to cancel as part of our 6 to 8 days off? For example, perhaps the Tuesday before Thanksgiving? Think about it and let me know.

You chose Tuesday October 19 as an off day.

So, you will have a 2-week break for the weeks of October 11 and October 18!

Assignment for Monday October 25

 Assignment for Monday October 25. We will be starting Free Speech:

 1. Reed v. Town of Gilbert (link); Casebook p.1389-1394. 

 

We will start class by discussing Holt v. Hobbs and City or Boerne from last time.

Assignment for Tuesday October 26

Snyder v. Phelps (link);  casebook p. 1394-1412

Holt v. Hobbs

 

                                        Abdul Maalik Muhammad (Petitioner Gregory Holt)

 

So Hobby Lobby won the case—it seems to me that this case is easy under RFRA—and no one really loses because Hobby Lobby’s employees will still get free contraceptive coverage under the less restrictive accommodation.

But now think about Holt v. Hobbs. 

 

Relevant texts of RLUIPA:

 

 

SEC. 3. <> PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS

                    EXERCISE OF INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONS.

 

    (a) General Rule.--No government shall impose a substantial burden

on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an

institution, as defined in section 2 of the Civil Rights of

Institutionalized Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997), even if the burden

results from a rule of general applicability, unless the government

demonstrates that imposition of the burden on that person--

            (1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest;

        and

            (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that

        compelling governmental interest.

 

 

 

     (g) Broad Construction.--This Act shall be construed in favor of a

broad protection of religious exercise, to the maximum extent permitted

by the terms of this Act and the Constitution.

 

 

 

  (7) Religious exercise.--

                    (A) In general.--The term ``religious exercise''

                includes any exercise of religion, whether or not

                compelled by, or central to, a system of religious

                belief.

 

 

Hobby Lobby was a 5 to 4 decision. But Justice Alito’s opinion in Holt v. Hobbs is unanimous.

Holt v. Hobbs concerned RFRA’s sister law, RLUIPA (the Religious land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act), which provides that government may not substantially burden the religious exercise of an imprisoned person unless the government demonstrates that the burden “constitutes the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling state interest.”           

Justice Alito explicitly points out how RLUIPA was designed to expansively protect religious liberty (p. 2):

Several provisions of RLUIPA underscore its expansive protection for religious liberty. Congress defined “religious exercise” capaciously to include “any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.”  Congress mandated that this concept “shall 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.” And Congress stated that RLUIPA “may require a government to incur expenses in its own operations to avoid imposing a substantial burden on religious exercise.”

Basically, the facts were that the prisoner, Gregory Holt also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, is a devout Muslim who wished to grow a one-half inch beard based upon his sincerely held religious beliefs.

Arkansas prison regulations prohibited beards based upon concerns involving prison security.

Noting that the RLUIPA standard mirrors RFRA, the Supreme Court unanimously held that Holt was entitled to a religious exemption from the no beard prison grooming policy.

The Court held that Holt had “easily satisfied” his burden of establishing a substantial burden on his religious freedom, because the regulation required him to shave his beard or face serious disciplinary action.                      

Thus, the burden shifted to the Government to demonstrate that the grooming policy as applied to religious beards was the least restrictive means of advancing a compelling governmental interest.

Justice Alito emphasized that the compelling interest test is a “rigorous standard,” that is difficult to meet. And that in any event, the requirement of least restrictive means is “exceptionally demanding.”

To make a long story short, the Court held that the prison’s interest in forbidding short beards was probably not compelling, and that, in any event, there were less restrictive means of ensuring that no razor blades or illegal drugs were hidden in one-half inch beards. For example, prison guards could require prisoners to run a comb through their beards to ensure that no weapons or drugs were concealed there.

Also, even if a clean-shaven photograph was necessary to protect security interests concerning easy identification of prisoners, a less-restrictive means would be to take the photograph when the prisoner was first admitted to the prison (p. 5). Or I would argue, take the picture with the beard and photoshop a clean-shaven prisoner.

Thus, the Court unanimously struck down the prison beard policy “insofar as it prevents [Holt] from growing a one-half inch beard in accordance with his religious beliefs.”

I suggest that the legal analysis in Hobby Lobby and Holt are identical, and that the difference in the two cases is simply that Hobby Lobby is a battle in the culture war over abortion and contraception, whereas Holt concerns a Muslim prisoner in a battle with prison officials.

All culture war cases, cases involving abortion or contraception or gay rights, are ideologically divisive and thus usually end up as 5 to 4 decisions even when the legal issues are easy.

Strategically, it is best to bring religious liberty cases involving politically-correct claims and plaintiffs. Imagine if Masterpiece Cakeshop had involved a gay cake artist who was ordered to bake a cake with a religious message condemning same-sex marriage as a serious sin?

Same case? Sure, but now the progressive Justices might find the gay baker’s First Amendment claims more sympathetically.

Hobby Lobby was 5 to 4; Holt v. Hobbs was Unanimous

 What explains this?

Nathan's Question About Mask Mandates and Free Exercise

 Does free exercise forbid non-neutral mask mandates from being enforced against church services?

Yes and no. The fact that the law is non-neutral, because of secular exceptions, takes the case out of Smith and under Lukumi-Fulton strict scrutiny. However, the claimant would still have to show that he has a sincerely held religious objection to masks at worship services. Some might be able to establish this. A pastor might argue that fellowship during service requires mask-free intimacy among the church family. Or he might argue that the mask mandate has significantly reduced church attendance because many people avoid going to places where masks are required.

My personal opposition to mask mandates, however, is not based upon religious conviction. It is based upon a strong sense of liberty and the fear that Americans are becoming too used to being regulated by the "emergency" decrees of public health bureaucrats. Covid-Mandate America looks nothing like the land of the free and the home of the brave. I believe that if you allow the government to take your liberty during times of crisis, it will create a crisis whenever it wishes to take your liberty. In other words, my views about mask mandates are based upon a desire to keep America free and brave, not scared and masked.

So, I do not have a Free Exercise claim against the mask mandates, because my opposition is based upon secular libertarian philosophy, not upon sincerely held religious beliefs.

 Ronald Reagan once said something profound about the extinction of liberty:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men [and women] were free.”

Whatever your views about the Covid mandates, I hope that you will not become too used to having your life so heavily regulated by government for such a long period of time. It is like boiling a frog slowly; you get used to the warm water as the heat slowly increases and the next thing you know you are boiled alive.