Some religious plaintiffs are winning, but often on narrow grounds. U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (photo: Pixabay) Where is the U.S. Supreme Court going on religious freedom? The court’s current trend is to grant religious-freedom claims. That was true even before Amy Coney Barrett joined the court in October 2020, cementing a conservative-leaning majority of either 6-3 or 5-4 on certain legal disputes. Some like that trend, arguing that it rightly furthers the ability to freely exercise religion in public. Some don’t , arguing that it blurs the line of separation of church and state, which they consider vital. But how far will the court go? The Register recently asked constitutional-law experts to weigh in. “I think as long as the court has its current composition, religious-liberty cases that they decide to hear will be decided in favor of the religious claimant,” said Sherif Girgis, associate professor of law at Notre Dame Law School, in a telephone interview with the Register. Limits A key limiting factor, though, as Girgis pointed out, is whether the court takes a case. The court has broad discretion over whether it will accept a case by issuing what is known as a “writ […]
