Monday, October 10, 2011

The State's Argument in Hosanna-Tabor

The case has been highlighted at Althouse (and a lot of other places.)  You can find the details there.

Here's a telling excerpt from the Government's argument during questioning by the Supremes:

Leodra Kruger, making the case for the solicitor general questioned the “ministerial exception” directly. When questioned by Chief Justice John Roberts on whether religious groups should have the right to judge the qualifications of their own key employees, she replied: “We don’t see that line of church autonomy principles in the religion clause jurisprudence as such.”

When Justice Stephen Breyer pressed the issue, asking specifically whether the Catholic Church should be allowed to bar women from the priesthood, Kruger replied: “The government’s general interest in eradicating discrimination in the workplace is simply not sufficient to justify changing the way that the Catholic Church chooses its priests, based on gender roles that are rooted in religious doctrine.

Comment from CNS:

But by casting her legal argument in terms of the government’s interests, rather than the unchanging language of the First Amendment, she left the possibility that at some future date, under different circumstances, the government could side with women seeking ordination as Catholic priests....

The ObozoGang's disdain for the Constitution is absolutely unlimited.

HT:  FrZ

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