In the Nov. 4, 2020 photo, The Supreme Court in Washington. A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Muslim men who were placed on the government’s no-fly list because they refused to serve as FBI informants can seek to hold federal agents financially liable. The justices continued a string of decisions friendly to religious interests in holding that the men could sue the agents under a 1993 religious freedom law. J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press Government officials cannot violate someone’s religious rights, then change the rules after that person sues and claim no harm was done. Nor can those officials be spared financial penalties for what they have done. That decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last week was a huge stride for religious liberty. The fact it was a unanimous decision was that much more satisfying, given the divisive rhetoric about religious liberties during recent confirmation hearings. The newest justice, Amy Coney Barrett, did not participate in this ruling because the oral arguments took place before she was seated. A statement by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty notes that the decision ought to put an end to a “common tactic by the government bodies across the United […]
