{"id":393,"date":"2011-06-21T18:28:24","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T22:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/?p=393"},"modified":"2011-06-22T11:36:15","modified_gmt":"2011-06-22T15:36:15","slug":"defending-rights-of-churches-at-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/06\/defending-rights-of-churches-at-supreme-court.html","title":{"rendered":"Defending Rights of Churches at Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a case<\/a> now before the U.S. Supreme Court that goes to the heart of the constitutional protections afforded to churches and ministries.<\/p>\n

The case is called Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) <\/em>(No. 10-553).\u00a0 At issue: the freedom of churches to select religiously commissioned teachers for their religious grade schools.<\/p>\n

We have filed a friend-of-the-court brief<\/a> at the Supreme Court on behalf of our organization and the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship\/USA – defending the ability of churches and church schools to select their ministerial employees without government intrusion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The truth is no government agency or court should be dictating to a church the roster of its religion teachers. Government clearly has no business choosing priests, rabbis, or ministers. Nor should government agents be ordering church schools to hire or retain teachers the school does not want.<\/p>\n

The Hosanna-Tabor <\/em>case involves a religiously commissioned teacher who taught in a Missouri Synod Lutheran school but was fired after she became confrontational with the school administration. The federal EEOC and the teacher herself teamed up to sue the church, claiming the church \u201cretaliated\u201d against her for threatening to sue over a medical disability.<\/p>\n

A federal district court threw the case out on the grounds that the so-called \u201cministerial exception\u201d to employment laws barred court review of the retaliation claim. But a federal appeals court reinstated the lawsuit, reasoning that the teacher\u2019s religious role and duties were outweighed by her instruction of the students in secular subjects.<\/p>\n

The church then successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case.<\/p>\n

In our view, the ministerial exception is absolutely essential to the independence of churches from the state. Fortunately, all of the lower federal courts agree that the ministerial exception covers clergy; the question here, however, is whether the ministerial exception also covers educational staff who teach religion at church schools.<\/p>\n

The Hosanna-Tabor church is arguing that First Amendment protection for the free exercise of religion and the freedom of association, as well as the prohibition on the establishment of religion, all bar the retaliation suit by the school teacher.<\/p>\n

Our amicus brief proposes an alternative way for the school to win: the Supreme Court should interpret the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) not to apply to cases like this. \u201cWere the ADA to be applied to ministerial employees, the [provisions of the ADA] would require, in case after case, an assessment of religious matters,\u201d the brief explains. \u201cHere, there can be no dispute that applying the ADA would, at a minimum, raise serious constitutional questions.\u201d The ACLJ amicus brief is posted here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court will likely hear oral argument in the case in the fall and issue a decision sometime in 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a case now before the U.S. Supreme Court that goes to the heart of the constitutional protections afforded to churches and ministries. The case is called Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) (No. 10-553).\u00a0 At issue: the freedom of churches to select religiously commissioned teachers for their religious…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,54,8],"tags":[743,88,745,127,126,125,124,128,123],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-churches","category-faith","category-religious-freedom","category-supreme-court","tag-aclj","tag-amicus-brief","tag-churches","tag-education","tag-friend-of-the-court-brief","tag-intervarsity-christian-fellowship","tag-ministeries","tag-religious-schools","tag-religious-teachers"],"yoast_head":"\nDefending Rights of Churches at Supreme Court - Faith & Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/06\/defending-rights-of-churches-at-supreme-court.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defending Rights of Churches at Supreme Court - Faith & Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There’s a case now before the U.S. Supreme Court that goes to the heart of the constitutional protections afforded to churches and ministries. 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He is also Chief Counsel of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). Jay Sekulow is one of the leading defenders of constitutional rights and religious liberties in the United States. Over the past 25 years, Jay Sekulow has amassed an unparalleled record of accomplishment, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court on 12 occasions. His aggressive litigation strategy before the Supreme Court has led to many landmark First Amendment victories. In his first case before the Supreme Court, Jews for Jesus, Jay Sekulow secured the right of religious groups to pass out tracks in airports. In Mergens, Jay Sekulow successfully protected the right of students to form Bible clubs and prayer groups on public school campuses. In Lamb\u2019s Chapel, Jay Sekulow cleared the way for churches to have equal access to public facilities in the same way that other groups are permitted to utilize those facilities. In the Bray and Operation Rescue cases, Jay Sekulow protected the free speech rights of pro-life advocates to be free from criminal prosecution for conveying their pro-life message. In McConnell v. FEC, Jay Sekulow protected the right of young people to engage in the political process by donating to the campaign of their choice. In Pleasant Grove, Jay Sekulow paved the way for governments to be able to display Ten Commandments monuments, and other monuments of their choosing, in public parks. Through the ACLJ, Jay Sekulow engages the political, legal, and cultural battles facing America today. He routinely works with Members of Congress, advising them on proposed legislation and representing them in critical legal matters. Jay Sekulow has also testified before Congress on the constitutionality of proposed legislation. Also, in addition to being a successful Supreme Court advocate, Jay Sekulow is a highly respected broadcaster. Jay Sekulow is the host of Jay Sekulow Live! which airs each weekday on over 850 radio stations nationwide, in addition Sirius and XM satellite radio. He brings insight and education to listeners daily through this national call-in radio program. He is also the host of the ACLJ This Week, the ACLJ\u2019s weekly television program. Jay Sekulow regularly appears on major media outlets, including FOX News, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC, where he is sought out for his vast experience in constitutional law and his unique insight into many of the pressing legal and political issues facing America today. He is frequently quoted in the nation's leading newspapers and often contributes opinion editorials to national publications. Jay Sekulow has also published numerous law review and other scholarly articles. Jay Sekulow has received numerous honors for his groundbreaking legal work in the area of free speech and religious liberties. The Legal Times has named Sekulow one of \u201cThe 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years\u201d and the National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \u201c100 Most Influential Lawyers\u201d in the United States. In addition, TIME Magazine listed Jay Sekulow as one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America. Jay Sekulow\u2019s legal work in defense of religious liberties and human rights extends beyond the United States, having founded the ECLJ in Strasbourg, France, which maintains consultative status with the United Nations. He has also opened offices in Pakistan, Africa, and Jerusalem, Israel. Jay Sekulow is a staunch defender of Israel, presenting arguments before the International Criminal Court at the Hague. His efforts in support of Israel\u2019s right to defend itself from terrorist attacks have been commended by Israeli government officials, one official stating, \"Jay was instrumentally-involved in projects that the President of Israel and the Prime Minister put on our national agenda.\" Jay Sekulow also has a passion for educating the next generation of religious liberty advocates. He is a member of the Regent University Law School Faculty as a Distinguished Professor of Law and routinely teaches courses on constitutional law and presents guest lectures. Jay Sekulow has also started educational programs in international human rights law in Strasbourg, France and at Handong University in South Korea. Jay Sekulow is a graduate of Mercer University, earning both a bachelor\u2019s degree and doctor of jurisprudence. Sekulow served on the editorial staff of the Mercer Law Review and graduated cum laude. He later earned a Ph.D. from Regent University, writing his dissertation on American Legal History. Jay Sekulow also serves on the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, D.C. Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsels full biography and video. Jay Sekulow on Facebook. Jay Sekulow on Twitter. Jay Sekulow on YouTube.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/author\/jay_sekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":410,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions\/410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}