Title: Religion and the Constitution | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
Headings: Religion and the Constitution
Religion and the Constitution
Content: However, in a number of decisions, the Supreme Court held that because of the Fourteenth Amendment, the protections of religious freedom in the First Amendment are enforceable against state and local governments. For instance, in Cantwell v. Connecticut, Jehovah’s Witnesses were arrested for proselyting in Connecticut. The Court ruled that a local ordinance that required a license for religious solicitation violated the Free Exercise Clause. The “Hobby Lobby” case is a more recent example of the Court’s foray into the interaction between religion and the Constitution. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the Court struck down a law that required for-profit corporations to provide certain contraceptives as part of their healthcare packages for their employees. The owners and founders of Hobby Lobby, who were opposed to abortion on religious grounds, refused to offer health care packages for their employees that would provide them with contraceptives they deemed abortive. The Court, however, declined to find for Hobby Lobby on the basis of the Free Exercise Clause, but instead found for them on statutory grounds. The Court found that as a matter of statutory interpretation, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 prohibited the federal government from imposing a mandate on corporations to provide certain contraceptives in their health care packages for their employees.