scholarly journals The First Amendment And The Ministerial Exemption: Federal Statutory Mandates

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 989
Author(s):  
Georgia L. Holmes ◽  
Penny Herickhoff

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-pagination: none;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">On January 11, 2012 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Hosanna Tabor Evangelical Lutheran School v. Equal Opportunity Commission, et al.</span></span><a name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" href="http://journals.cluteonline.com/index.php/JABR/author/saveSubmit/3#_ftn1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-themecolor: text1;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> that the First Amendment free exercise of religion clause requires the recognition of a ministerial exception from the application of the discrimination provisions of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lower federal courts had long recognized such an exemption in federal anti-discrimination statutes, yet the U.S. Supreme Court had never formally done so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The decision of the Court was unanimous, although separate concurring opinions were filed by Justice Thomas and by Justice Alito, who was also joined by Justice Kagan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, in its decision, the Court has mandated immunity for religious organizations from the laws that prohibit discrimination, and retaliation in the workplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hosanna Tabor decision raises issues of how far such a ministerial exemption extends and to what extent it immunizes religious organizations from liability for other types of statutorily prohibited and tortious conduct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is concern in some sectors that too broad an exemption would immunize religious organizations under numerous neutral, generally applicable laws, such as those governing sexual abuse, unemployment compensation, employer social Security deductions, and sales taxes, all of which have previously been applied to religious organizations.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> <hr size="1" /></span><div style="mso-element: footnote;" id="ftn1"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" href="http://journals.cluteonline.com/index.php/JABR/author/saveSubmit/3#_ftnref1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">____ U.S. ____.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 934-936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary N. McAbee

Many medical and legal commentators have expressed concern about the validity of scientific evidence that is proffered by expert witnesses at depositions and in courts of law.1,2 The sparse research that is available on the testimony of medical expert witnesses suggests that it is frequently flawed and erroneous.3 On June 28, 1993, the United States (US) Supreme Court ruled on the proper standard for admissibility of scientific evidence in the courtroom.4 Although the ruling establishes guidelines that are binding only in federal courts, it is expected that many state courts will follow the Court's ruling. This commentary reviews the Court's guidelines for admissibility of expert testimony, and expresses concern about their applicability in future cases involving scientific testimony.


1931 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96
Author(s):  
A. H. Feller

To the ever-increasing confusion of doctrine which makes up the law of sovereign immunity, the courts of the United States have added procedural complications which, though not as weighty, are nevertheless as puzzling as any of the substantive rules. Of recent years the United States Supreme Court and the lower Federal courts have often had occasion to consider the method whereby the question of immunity was raised. The result has been the evolution of a set of rules so vaguely defined in the decisions as to offer little guidance to the bench and bar, and withal of interest to the scholar who finds that these rules exist in no other judicial system.


This chapter describes the fighting-words jurisprudence. It explains why fighting words are unprotected speech. It reviews the Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942) case in which the United States Supreme Court first excluded fighting words from First Amendment protection. The chapter aims to show that, since fighting words are unprotected speech, school officials can censor such speech outside the schoolhouse gate without violating the First Amendment. However, school officials must establish that the speech qualifies as fighting words – a challenging task.


Author(s):  
Randall P. Bezanson

This chapter examines the Supreme Court's decision in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. Since age eight, James Dale had been a Scout in his home town of Monmouth, New Jersey. By 1988, when he finished as a youth Scout on his eighteenth birthday, he had earned twenty-five merit badges and had become an Eagle Scout, one of the highest honors in Scouting. At age 19, Dale “came out” while attending Rutgers, and became actively involved in the university's lesbian and gay organization. He later received a letter from the Boy Scouts of America saying that he no longer met its standards for leadership, since avowed homosexuals were not permitted in the organization. Dale sought to appeal the decision, but to no avail. He was dismissed from his position as assistant scoutmaster, and his adult membership in the Scouts was revoked. Dale sued, claiming that the Scouts' decision was illegal under the terms of the New Jersey public accommodations law. Dale's lawsuit ultimately prevailed in the New Jersey Supreme Court. The Boy Scouts then appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court. In order to get to the Supreme Court the Scouts had to argue that the New Jersey law could not constitutionally be applied to the Boy Scouts based on its First Amendment right of free speech.


Author(s):  
Rachel D. Guthrie

In 2011, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, the United States Supreme Court heightened scrutiny of class certification under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 23(a)(2)'s commonality requirement and imposed a strict injunctive standard for relief sought under FRCP Rule 23(b)(2). In 2007, the Missouri Supreme Court followed several other states in acknowledging that claimants tortiously exposed to toxins may seek medical monitoring for latent disease in a class action. Although state courts are not bound by federal procedural rules, class actions increasingly invoke federal jurisdiction, and this Article attempts to analyze the likely implications of Dukes for toxic exposure class actions. Further, using Missouri as a benchmark, this Article provides suggestions for bolstering the chances of recovery for toxic exposure claimants facing removal to federal courts.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Lemley

In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has focused increasingattention on two doctrines that provide immunity from antitrust liabilityfor certain anticompetitive activity: the state action doctrine and thepetitioning immunity doctrine (sometimes known as the Noerr-Penningtondoctrine, after the two cases that established it). These doctrines havebeen the subject of seven Supreme Court decisions in as many years. Inspite of (or perhaps because of) the Court’s numerous recent decisions,there remains a great deal of confusion about the source and the scope ofthese doctrines. This Article attempts to clarify both doctrines.The Supreme Court and a number of commentators contend that the antitrustimmunity doctrines are the product of statutory interpretation of theantitrust laws themselves. The Court contends that petitioning and stateaction are “essentially dissimilar” to the types of business activity theantitrust laws were designed to regulate. This Article disagrees. Bothpetitioning and state action present precisely the sorts of problems withwhich the antitrust laws are concerned — exploitation of consumers throughthe charging of supracompetitive prices.To determine the source of antitrust immunity, the Court must look beyondthe antitrust laws to the constitutional principles that are implicated bythe doctrines. For the state action doctrine, the constitutional principleat stake is largely one of federalism, and the more general democraticprinciples embodied in the Court’s non-delegation jurisprudence. For thepetitioning immunity doctrine, the First Amendment protection of speech andpetitioning provides the relevant principles. After examining the source ofthe antitrust immunity doctrines, this Article considers the appropriatescope of those doctrines in light of the constitutional principles at issue.


Author(s):  
Paula Alexander Becker

<p class="MsoBlockText" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The future of affirmative action was the subject of a pair of consolidated cases decided by the United States Supreme Court in June 2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Whether the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the use of race in the admission of students to a University or whether diversity can provide a compelling government interest sufficient to meet Fourteenth Amendment standard was the controversy decided by the Supreme Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This case will affect the future of affirmative action not only in higher education, but also in the employment arena as well. </span></span></p>


This chapter discusses child pornography speech which the United States Supreme Court first categorically excluded from First Amendment protection in New York v. Ferber (1982). The goal of the chapter is to provide an overview of the child-pornography jurisprudence. The chapter also highlights a case applying the Supreme Court precedent on child pornography to student speech. The chapter concludes that, due to its unprotected nature, students censored for child pornography speech have no First Amendment recourse.


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