Professor Robin Wilson authored an op-ed that first appeared on April 11, 2017 on Georgetown University's Berkley Forum.
Excerpt:
We should ask how religious minorities will fare now that Judge Gorsuch has been confirmed.
This is not a merely academic question for this Court. A case knocking on the Supreme Court’s door, Sterling v. United States, seeks to flesh out whether a direct restraint on a person’s religious practice—that is, in the words of the court decision being appealed, "having restraints placed on behavior that is religiously motivated" but that falls short of forcing a person the claimant "to act contrary to her beliefs"—is a "substantial burden" for purposes of analyzing a religious freedom claim. The case involves a soldier who was discharged after a dispute over whether she could post a Bible verse inside her cubicle.
It’s important because the "forces one to act contrary to beliefs" threshold advanced by the military in this case leaves a lot unprotected below it.
Read the full op-ed at Berkley Forum.
Note: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Illinois College of Law.