The following is excerpted from the Deseret News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Ready or not, a new Supreme Court term is here.
The justices heard their first cases of the fall Monday, and they’ll have their hands full with conferences, oral argument sessions and decision writing for at least the next nine months.
I, however, have a much shorter to-do list than normal, since the court has only taken up one religion-related case so far. 303 Creative v. Elenis centers on a website designer who argues the state of Colorado can’t force her to design sites for same-sex weddings since doing so would violate her religious beliefs.
“(Lorie) Smith does not want to design websites for same-sex weddings, and she wants to post a message on her own website to explain that. But a Colorado law prohibits businesses that are open to the public from discriminating against gay people or announcing their intent to do so,” SCOTUSblog reported in February when the court agreed to hear the case.
Interestingly, the justices declined to consider Smith’s religious freedom claims and, instead, have chosen to focus on free speech. But many faith groups are still watching the case closely as communities across the country struggle to balance religious freedom and LGBTQ rights.
There are plenty of other religions cases seeking the Supreme Court’s attention, but the justices haven’t yet agreed to hear one. Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, told me last week that it’ll be fascinating to see what ends up on this term’s docket, and I can’t help but agree.
Here’s a look at some other cases the Supreme Court may hear this term:
Cases on the Supreme Court’s doorstep
Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian, believes that working on Sunday is against his religion. He resigned from his job with the U.S. Postal Service rather than pick up shifts on his Sabbath day and then sued, alleging religious freedom violations.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
