The Religion Law Quiz Podcast
The Religion Law Quiz podcast educates you about religious freedom and other religion law related topics through a short question and answer format. Quizzes cover the current state of the law in a non-biased, non-political format.
Episodes
In June 2023 the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Groff v. DeJoy ruling on religious accommodations under Title VII. In a nutshell, what was the main holding of the Groff decision?
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Answer: Here’s how the Supreme Court answers that question in the syllabus:
Held: Title VII requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that the burden of granting an accommodation would res...
Religion Law Quiz #91 asked how you would explain “strict scrutiny” to a kindergartner. In keeping with that theme (i.e., you only truly understand a concept when you can intelligently teach it to someone much younger and less knowledgeable than yourself), how would you, in just one sentence, describe what Title VII requires of employers for employees who seek a religious accommodation?
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Answer: H...
In Groff v. DeJoy, 243 S.Ct. 2279 (2023), the Supreme Court was recently asked to address Title VII in the context of a former United States Postal Service (USPS) employee who, as an evangelical Christian, Sunday should be for worship and rest (not work). The USPS disagreed and did not make a reasonable accommodation for him. The worker filed suit and the District Court and later the Third Circuit ruled in favor of the USPS. The...
Religion Law Quiz #94
The last several Religion Law Quizzes have focused on key legal principles as articulated in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 141 S.C.t 1868 (2021). Today’s Religion Law Quiz poses one final question regarding that decision.
The Fulton decision specifically recognized that “‘gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth.’” Id. at 1882 (c...
Religion Law Quiz #93
A city speculates that it will be sued if it grants an exception to its non-discrimination policies to a religious institution. Does that constitute a sufficient basis for the city to satisfy strict scrutiny?
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Answer: No. Here’s how the Supreme Court addressed that question.
As for liability, the City offers only speculation that it might be sued over CSS's certification...
Religion Law Quiz #92
If a city has a compelling interest in generally enforcing its non-discrimination policies will those policies survive strict scrutiny because the city’s interest is compelling?
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Answer: That is the wrong question to be asking. The issue is not whether the city has a compelling interest in generally enforcing its non-discrimination policies but rather if it has a compelling...
Religion Law Quiz #91
Today’s Religion Law Quiz is going to challenge you in a very novel way. Let’s see how you do.
How would you describe to a kindergartner how a government policy can survive strict scrutiny when dealing with religion?
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Answer: Here’s how the Supreme Court explained strict scrutiny in more easy-to-understand terms:
A government policy can survive strict scrutiny onl...
Religion Law Quiz #90
A city has a municipal code which has a formal system of discretionary exemptions for religious institutions. Will such a regulatory scheme withstand judicial review if the court applies strict scrutiny?
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Answer: No. This is a bit of a trick question because the system fails no matter what level of scrutiny the court applies. As the Supreme Court has said, “No matter the l...
Religion Law Quiz #89
Can the government discriminate against religion when acting in a managerial role?
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Answer: No. The Supreme Court has plainly stated, “We have never suggested that the government may discriminate against religion when acting in its managerial role.” Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 141 S. Ct. 1868, 1878 (2021).
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provide...
Religion Law Quiz #88
In Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 141 S. Ct. 1868, 1878 (2021) the regulations adopted by Philadelphia “incorporates a system of individual exemptions, made available in this case at the ‘sole discretion’ of the Commissioner. The City has made clear that the Commissioner ‘has no intention of granting an exception’ to” Catholic Social Services. Id. (citations omitted). Was the City of Philade...
Religion Law Quiz #87
Today’s Religion Law Quiz is definitely a tougher one. Let’s see how you do.
In Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the Supreme Court stated that “Government fails to act neutrally when it proceeds in a manner intolerant of religious beliefs or restricts practices because of their religious nature.” 141 S. Ct. 1868, 1877 (2021). The Supreme Court then went on to identify two specific guideline...
Religion Law Quiz #86
In Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Catholic Social Services urged the Supreme Court to overrule Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872, 110 S.Ct. 1595, 108 L.Ed.2d 876 (1990). As you may recall, “Smith held that laws incidentally burdening religion are ordinarily not subject to strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause so long as they are neutr...
The issue in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 141 S. Ct. 1868, 1874 (2021) was whether the “the actions of Philadelphia violate the First Amendment.” By way of background, “Catholic Social Services [“CSS”] is a foster care agency in Philadelphia. The City stopped referring children to CSS upon discovering that the agency would not certify same-sex couples to be foster parents due to its religious beliefs about marriag...
Neither Ronnie nor Janet are attorneys but they are keenly interested about federal law regarding religion. Where can Ronnie or Janet go if they want to find quick helpful resources about federal religion law?
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Answer: One good place to start is at the Department of Justice’s publications page found at https://www.justice.gov/crt/publications which has several helpful publications on the following ...
Religion Law Quiz ## 82 and 83 are closely related. As you’ll recall, in Religion Law Quiz $82 we learned that the Montana Supreme Court erred in its analysis in Espinoza v. Montana Dep't of Revenue by applying state law first instead of federal law. Supreme Court’s reasoning was based on the Supremacy Clause. In very succinct terms, how does the Supremacy Clause apply to State Court judges?
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Ans...
Religion Law Quizzes #82 and #83 are closely related and they (particularly Religion Law Quiz #83) highlight some really important foundational legal principles in federalism form of government. So, with that in mind, let’s see how you do.
In Espinoza v. Montana Dep’t of Revenue, the Montana Supreme Court had entirely invalidated a scholarship program because the Montana Supreme Court believed it violated the Constitution’s “no...
A state passes a law which, in the view of the state, protects the religious liberty of taxpayers by ensuring that their taxes are not directed to religious organizations (because the law specifically prohibits any religious institution from receiving state aid), and the law safeguards the freedom of religious organizations by keeping the government out of their operations. Does the law pass constitutional muster?
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True or False: The protections of the Free Exercise Clause depend on a judgment-by-judgment analysis regarding whether discrimination against religious adherents would somehow serve ill-defined interests?
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Answer: False. Here’s what the Supreme Court said in this regard three years ago: “The protections of the Free Exercise Clause do not depend on a ‘judgment-by-judgment analysis’ regarding whether ...
As attorneys we talk about doing pro bono work. But guess what? The universe doesn’t revolve around us. <<<Yes, I realize that last sentence is a hard pill to swallow. 😊>>> Non-attorneys can also play an important role. How can non-attorneys help with pro bono work?
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Answer: Here is a list of possible things non-attorneys can do to help promote pro bono work:
—Educate you...
In Espinoza v. Montana Dep't of Revenue, 140 S. Ct. 2246 (2020), the Montana Department of Revenue sought to distinguish that case from the Supreme Court’s Trinity Lutheran decision a few years earlier by arguing that “Trinity Lutheran does not govern here because the no-aid provision applies not because of the religious character of the recipients, but because of how the funds would be used—for ‘religious education.’” Id. at 2255...
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