Supreme Court

“Conservative legal theory holds that laws need to be interpreted and applied according to their “original” or “textual” meaning. Conservative judges, unlike liberal judges, resist ‘making laws,’ which they consider to be the role of legislators….they also tend to have a high respect for ‘precedent,’ for upholding previous court rulings.

“On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June Medical Services v. Russo that a Louisiana state law holding abortion clinics to the same standards as surgical centers was unconstitutional.” - CPost

“These failures, as noted by Senator Hawley in his speech, can quickly turn into a political liability for a Republican Party that has derived significant power from campaigning on the importance of judicial nominations. Bostock is a wake-up call…of a movement in need of change.

“Chief among them are two cases — Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel — that involve a ‘ministerial exemption’ to civil rights protections such as the one in Monday’s ruling, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Right Act.” - BPNews

“This week’s Supreme Court decision intended to protect gay and transgender people from workplace discrimination could infringe upon the exercise of faith, a group of religious colleges has warned.” - W.Examiner

Some quick thoughts about the Bostock v. Clayton County court decision that came out yesterday.

“The Court ruled, in an opinion written by Justice Gorsuch, that ‘sex’ does, in fact, include sexual orientation and gender identity, despite the fact that legislators repeatedly voted against including those categories in the legislation. So, what now?” - Russel Moore

Current law “creates a legal fiction granting abortion providers standing to represent the interests of the women they injure. This is similar to allowing a car manufacturing company to represent consumer interests when challenging a car safety law. Although not often discussed, this issue of third-party standing could be the linchpin in this case.” - W.Examiner

“California restricting churches to 25% capacity or less than 100 worshipers ‘appear[s] consistent’ with First Amendment, wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in 5–4 decision.” - CT

“The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments this week for cases that will be decided in late May or June. Here are five with implications for religious liberty.” - TGC