SUPREME COURT PLAZA, Washington, DC – On news that the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., Constitutional Accountability Center attorneys – who were in the Court for this morning’s announcement – issued the following reaction:

“For the first time in our Nation’s history,” said CAC President Doug Kendall, “the Supreme Court has ruled that for-profit corporations have religious rights and have accorded them religious exemptions. Despite their attempts to qualify that ruling, it opens the floodgates to claims by corporations for religious exemptions.”

“As Justice Ginsburg explained in a powerful dissent,” continued CAC Civil Rights Director David Gans,”the Court puts claims of corporations over those of its employees and allows a corporation’s owners to override the Federal rights of its employees, many of whom have a different set of religious beliefs.”

CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra said, “While the Court purports to limit its ruling to closely-held corporations on this issue only, the majority opinion invites a number of  ‘me too’ religious objections by other companies on matters ranging from anti-discrimination law to other medical procedures such as blood transfusions or vaccinations.”

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Resources:

“Will the Supreme Court Give Corporations the Right to Impose Religious Beliefs on Employees?” Elizabeth Wydra, June 29, 2014: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-b-wydra/will-the-supreme-court-gi_b_5541816.html

“Do The Rights of Employees Count?: The Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Hobby Lobby,” David H. Gans, March 27, 2014: http://theusconstitution.org/text-history/2590/do-rights-employees-count-supreme-court-hears-oral-argument-hobby-lobby

“Discrimination, Inc.,” David H. Gans, February 26, 2014: http://theusconstitution.org/text-history/2509/discrimination-inc

CAC case page for Burwell v. Hobby Lobby: http://theusconstitution.org/cases/sebelius-v-hobby-lobby-stores-and-conestoga-wood-v-sebelius

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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