Written by Don Byrd
The House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice is holding a hearing this morning on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Panelists include Lori Windham (Becket Fund), Gregory Baylor (ADF), Nelson Tebbe (Brooklyn Law School), and Craig Parshall (ACLJ).
RFRA and RLUIPA are key protections for religious freedom today, though their scope is a matter of significant legal controversy. RFRA is the law at the heart of the Hobby Lobby ruling issued last year by the U.S. Supreme Court. Even more recently, the Supreme Court applied RLUIPA in deciding Holt v. Hobbs earlier this year, upholding an Arkansas inmate’s right to grow a 1/2-inch beard required by his faith.
The Baptist Joint Committee’s resource page on RFRA is here. The resource page on RLUIPA is here.
You can watch a live stream of today’s subcommittee hearing here. Reports to come.
