Doug & Marty: I think CC had two reasons to withdraw rather than litigate.
One is they were indeed concerned about their chances of winning this free exercise issue in the Mass courts. Second, they were facing discrimination themselves from the United Way and other funding agencies that are selectively tolerant (i.e. "you better be tolerant to gays or we will be intolerant toward your funding requests").
Another good reason not to give to the United Way. Of course, the best reason not to give to the United Way is to protest their use coercion (through employers) to gain "contributions" from employees.
Rick
Marty Lederman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Doug, under Massachusetts law would CC's inability to engage in "adoption services" (which I assume means being in the business of arranging adoptions) result in a substantial burden on its religious exercise?----- Original Message -----From: "Douglas Laycock" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>To: "Law & Religion issues for Law Academics" <religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu>Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 2:09 PMSubject: RE: Catholic Charities IssueApplication of this law to Catholic Charities should have raised a quite plausible claim under the Massachusetts Free Exercise Clause. See the Society of Jesus case about 1990, and a mid-90s case on marital status discrimination by landlords, the name of which I am forgetting.
So why did Catholic Charities surrender rather than litigate? Maybe they figured they would just make bad law with that claim in the court that found a constitutional right to gay marriage. If that's the reason, that sort of restraint in the choice of what claims to file should be practiced a lot more widely. If that just didn't think about the state law, that's much less admirable.
Douglas Laycock
University of Texas Law School
727 E. Dean Keeton St.
Austin, TX 78705
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512-471-6988 (fax)
________________________________
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Will Esser
Sent: Sat 3/11/2006 12:35 PM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Subject: Re: Catholic Charities Issue
Paul,
Your comparison doesn't fit and doesn't reveal any inconsistency on the part of the Church. Catholic Charities withdrew from the adoption arena, because the state mandate would require it to actively participate in the actual act with which it disagreed (i.e. placing children for adoption with gay couples). In your example, there is no conflict for the Church in ministering to the souls of those in the prison system. Such action is not in any sense active participation in capital punishment.
I'm entirely with Rick in! saluting Catholic Charities for its decision. People may disagree with the rationale for the decision, but the decision is ultimately an act of a religious organization placing its religious values first.
Will
Paul Finkelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I wonder if the Catholic Church should withdraw all support for the prison system because the Church opposes Capital punishment? It would be a shame for those on death row not to get last rites, or those in prison not to be able to talk to a priest, but at least the Church would be consistent.
Paul Finkelman
Rick Duncan wrote:
The Boston Globe has two good articles today on the decision by the Archdiocese to end its adoption services rather than submit to the government's antidiscrimination rules requiring the Church to place children with homosexual ! couples despite its sincerely held religious belief that ''allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be ! used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development."
Here <http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/03/11/catholic_charities_stuns_state_ends_adoptions/> and here <http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/03/11/churchs_rift_with_beacon_hill_grows/> .
Rick Duncan
Welpton Professor of Law
University of Nebraska Co! llege of Law
Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
"When the Round Table is broken every man must follow either Galahad or Mordred: middle things are gone." C.S.Lewis, Grand Miracle
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered." --The Prisoner
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-- Paul Finkelman Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law University of Tulsa College of Law 3120 East 4th Place Tulsa, OK 74104-3189 918-631-3706 (office) 918-631-2194 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Rick Duncan
Welpton Professor of Law
University of Nebraska College of Law
Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
Welpton Professor of Law
University of Nebraska College of Law
Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
"When the Round Table is broken every man must follow either Galahad or Mordred: middle things are gone." C.S.Lewis, Grand Miracle
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered." --The Prisoner
Yahoo! Mail
Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.
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