Is anyone convinced by the Court's distinction of Smith? Well actually, all nine Justices were convinced, all twelve federal circuits have been convinced, and twelve state supreme courts have been convinced, with none going the other way. "Physical acts" is not the best label for the scope of Smith, but the basic distinction between internal church governance and other matters goes all the way back to Locke. It is embedded in a line of Supreme Court cases that long pre-date Sherbert and Yoder and that peacefully co-existed with Reynolds v. United States (a case refusing religious exemptions).
Douglas Laycock Robert E. Scott Distinguished Professor of Law University of Virginia Law School 580 Massie Road Charlottesville, VA 22903 434-243-8546 -----Original Message----- From: conlawprof-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:conlawprof-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Eric J Segall Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 10:40 AM To: Con Law Prof list Subject: RE: Hosanna-Tabor II This is the sum total, after a quick read, of what the Court said about Smith: "But a church's selection of its ministers is unlike an individual's ingestion of peyote. Smith involved government regulation of only outward physical acts. The present case, in contrast, concerns government interference with an internal church decision that affects the faith and mission of the church itself. See id., at 877 (distinguishing the government's regulation of"physical acts" from its "lend[ing] its power to one or the other side in controversies over religious authority or dogma"). The contention that Smith forecloses recognition of a ministerial exception rooted in the Religion Clauses has no merit." "Physical acts," v. an "internal church decision." Is anyone convinced by this? ________________________________________ From: Eric J Segall Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 10:34 AM To: Con Law Prof list Subject: Hosanna-Tabor So Title VII, a generally applicable law that was not passed to hurt or affect religion (and in fact protects religion), does not apply to religious groups. I am not an expert in the Free Exercise Area, but how can Scalia join this opinion? Am I missing something? Thanks, Eric _______________________________________________ To post, send message to conlawp...@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/conlawprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.