Written by Don Byrd
Sitting en banc, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, ordering the lower court to consider an injunction barring the government from enforcing the contraception mandate pending the outcome of their lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. Back in December, a panel of the 10th Circuit rejected Hobby Lobby’s request for an injunction after finding the corporation unlikely to succeed in its religious freedom claims. Yesterday’s ruling of the entire appeals court overturns that decision.
At stake is the issue of whether and to what extent for-profit corporations can claim religious exercise rights, exempting them from laws like the Affordable Care Act. Should such a company be able to avoid laws aimed at protecting their workers on the ground that it violates the religious beliefs of the company’s owner? The court yesterday said probably so.
First, we hold as a matter of statutory interpretation that Congress did not exclude for-profit corporations from RFRA’s protections. Such corporations can be “persons” exercising religion for purposes of the statute. Second, as a matter of constitutional law, Free Exercise rights may extend to some for-profit organizations.
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In short, individuals may incorporate for religious purposes and keep their Free Exercise rights, and unincorporated individuals may pursue profit while keeping their Free Exercise rights. With these propositions, the government does not seem to disagree. The problem for the government, it appears, is when individuals incorporate and fail to satisfy Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(3). At that point, Free Exercise rights somehow disappear.
