Religion & Law

An excerpt from this story:

"More than 100 religious organizations are urging members of Congress to reject pending legislation that would prohibit them from considering religion when hiring . . .

"The law has long protected the religious freedom of both the people who receive government-funded services, and the groups that provide the services ? long before President Obama, and long before President Bush," said Anthony R. Picarello Jr., general counsel of USCCB, in a statement. "Stripping away the religious hiring rights of religious service providers violates the principle of religious freedom, and represents bad practice in the delivery of social services."

The groups are protesting a provision in HR 5466 ? a bill introduce in the House in May that would reauthorize federal substance abuse treatment funding that is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. . . .

Douglas Laycock, a professor at the University of Michigan law school and a constitutional scholar, reiterated those rights in a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., on behalf of the religious groups.

"Does government substantially burden the exercise of religion, within the meaning of RFRA, when it offers monetary grants on condition that a religious organization abandon one of its religious practices?" Laycock wrote. "Yes it does."

Notably, most of the organizations represented in the letter to members of Congress do not accept federal grants. But they contend that the legislation could affect their continued ability to be able to hire people of like-minded faith.