Quantum Windbag
Gold Member
- May 9, 2010
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I wonder if Nancy and Reid remember the law that they helped pass back in 1993. The Supreme Court was essentially erasing the 1st Amendment by establishing a rule that the government could do anything, even build a road through Indian tribes sacred land, as long as the law generally applied to everyone, unless the petitioner could prove the government was actually coercing or punishing them for their beliefs. As I have argued repeatedly, even under that standard, the mandate does not pass muster. Unfortunately for Obama, the RFRA actually imposes a duty on the government that was not met in this case.
That means that, not only is the mandate unconstitutional, it is actually illegal under federal law.
Isn't Obama supposed to be a law professor? Doesn't he have lawyers working for him? Does he honestly think no one would notice this?
Rivkin and Whelan: Birth-Control Mandate—Unconstitutional and Illegal - WSJ.com
That means that, not only is the mandate unconstitutional, it is actually illegal under federal law.
Isn't Obama supposed to be a law professor? Doesn't he have lawyers working for him? Does he honestly think no one would notice this?
That case limited the protections available under the First Amendments guarantee of free exercise of religion to those government actions that explicitly targeted religious practices, by subjecting them to difficult-to-satisfy strict judicial scrutiny. Other governmental actions, even if burdening religious activities, were held subject to a more deferential test. The 1993 law restored the same protections of religious freedom that had been understood to exist pre-Smith. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act states that the federal government may substantially burden a persons exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.
The law also provides that any later statutory override of its protections must be explicit. But there is nothing in the ObamaCare legislation that explicitly or even implicitly overrides the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The birth-control mandate proposed by Health and Human Services is thus illegal.
Rivkin and Whelan: Birth-Control Mandate—Unconstitutional and Illegal - WSJ.com