SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Corporate Citizenship AND Religious Exceptionalism in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

On June 20th, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that closely held for-profit corporations have a “religious conscience” and can actually claim exemption from a law they feel violates their religious beliefs.  The law in question involves the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act, which plaintiffs Hobby Lobby, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties argued it forced them to provide insurance coverage to their employees for certain forms of birth control, such as IUDs, which they (falsely) believe to be abortifacients.

The ruling was based on a 1994 statute adopted by Congress called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, designed to provide what many feel are unconstitutionally extreme protections of religious liberty.

While the deciding and concurring Justices deemed this to be a “narrowly defined” decision, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg  delivered an honest, rational, yet scathing 35 page dissent that perfectly describes a floodgate that is now open for religious faith to be placed above governing law in the U.S.

To read the full decision including Justice Ginsburg’s dissenting opinion, please click here