The Church of Scientology in Los Angeles. Photo: Bing Guan/Bloomberg News The California Court of Appeal has opened a new front in the legal war over religious exemptions. In Bixler v. Church of Scientology , the court ruled in favor of former members of the church who allege that they were raped by a church agent before leaving the faith. It held that they aren’t bound by an arbitration contract, a condition of church membership, in which they agreed that any claims against the church have to be submitted to Scientology arbitration tribunals. “Scientology’s written arbitration agreements are not enforceable against members who have left the faith, with respect to claims for subsequent non-religious, tortious acts,” the judges wrote. “To hold otherwise would bind members irrevocably to a faith they have the constitutional right to leave.” The petitioners are sympathetic, and there may be reasons not to enforce the agreement, such as unfairness in the Scientology tribunals or bias of the arbitrators. But the court made no mention of such factual questions, holding simply that the petitioners’ religious freedom allowed them to abrogate the contract. That’s inconsistent with both the Constitution and federal law, and it has troubling implications. […]
