To be fair to Doug and others of us who fought for RFRA and RLPA and RLUIPA way back when, we thought they were worth fighting for because of all manner of cases that *did not involve the commercial sector* -- including, for example, Doug's prisoner case that the Court just granted. Doug is right that no one, back then, thought commercial sector cases could prevail -- because they have virtually never received so much as a vote in the Supreme Court.
But that was then; this is now. If Hobby Lobby prevails, and if these state laws are enacted against the backdrop of such a Supreme Court decision and a manifest legislative and popular intent to promote exemptions in the commercial sphere, well . . . that's a different landscape entirely, isn't it? On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 1:29 PM, Hillel Y. Levin <hillelle...@gmail.com>wrote: > I'm not sure I understand. If such RFRAs are so ineffectual then why are > some people pushing so hard for them? If they aren't worth fighting > against, why are they worth fighting for? > > > On Tuesday, March 11, 2014, Douglas Laycock <dlayc...@virginia.edu> wrote: > >> There is of course nothing in the actual experience of state RFRAs to >> support any of the speculative fears in the letter. Litigation has been >> scarce; decisions favoring religious claimants have been scarcer. RFRAs >> have been significantly under enforced compared to the aspirations of their >> drafters. >> >> >> >> The recent string of wins under federal RFRA in the contraception cases >> arise in a context where government attempted to override long held and >> clearly stated teaching of two of the largest religious groups in the >> country (Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants). Even if those wins >> hold up in the Supreme Court, which is far from assured, there is little >> reason to think they would be replicated in other contexts. >> >> >> >> Douglas Laycock >> >> Robert E. Scott Distinguished Professor of Law >> >> University of Virginia Law School >> >> 580 Massie Road >> >> Charlottesville, VA 22903 >> >> 434-243-8546 >> >> >> >> *From:* religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto: >> religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] *On Behalf Of *Ira Lupu >> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 11, 2014 12:21 PM >> *To:* Law & Religion issues for Law Academics >> *Subject:* letter opposing Mississippi RFRA >> >> >> >> A group of ten legal academics, including myself and a number of others >> who post on this list, have prepared a letter urging the legislative defeat >> of a proposed Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Mississippi. The letter >> has recently been delivered and made publicly available. It can be found >> here: http://www.thirdway.org/publications/795 >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Ira C. Lupu >> F. Elwood & Eleanor Davis Professor of Law, Emeritus >> George Washington University Law School >> 2000 H St., NW >> Washington, DC 20052 >> (202)994-7053 >> >> Co-author (with Professor Robert Tuttle) of "Secular Government, >> Religious People" (forthcoming, summer 2014, Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.) >> My SSRN papers are here: >> http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=181272#reg >> > > > -- > Hillel Y. Levin > Associate Professor > University of Georgia > School of Law > 120 Herty Dr. > Athens, GA 30602 > (678) 641-7452 > hle...@uga.edu > hillelle...@gmail.com > SSRN Author Page: > http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=466645 > > > _______________________________________________ > 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. >
_______________________________________________ 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.
