“Secular” is not a bad word as many religious people and some politicians believe. In fact, it is a good word and, properly understood, is useful to describe our political culture and church-state configuration.

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So far this term, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review lower court decisions in two high-profile religious liberty disputes, one involving cross displays erected along Utah’s highways and another concerning a New York church’s long-term use of a public school building for its weekly Sunday worship services. In the former case, Justice Clarence Thomas issued a 19 page dissent — atypical at the petition stage — expressing his disagreement with the Court’s decision not to grant review. In the latter case, some observers were surprised by the denial because the case could have offered the Court a chance to clarify its own precedent concerning equal access principles.

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In unanimous decision, justices rule ‘ministerial exception’ grounded in First Amendment

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Contact:
Jeff Huett
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Cherilyn Crowe
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January 11, 2012

WASHINGTON – In a unanimous decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a First Amendment doctrine that bars most employment discrimination lawsuits by ministerial personnel against their employers applies in a dispute between a church-run school and a former teacher commissioned by the church.

Baptist Joint Committee General Counsel K. Hollyn Hollman commended the ruling. “It is a helpful decision explaining the important and unique way that the Constitution protects religious organizations in matters of internal governance,” she said.

While widely accepted by lower courts, the “ministerial exception” had not been explicitly recognized by the High Court until today. In its decision, the justices declined to adopt a rigid formula for deciding when an employee qualifies as a minister and rejected a purely quantitative assessment of duties. Instead, the Court focused on the employee’s religious functions and her designation as a commissioned minister within the ecclesiastical structure of the employer.  

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Click here to download a PDF of the brief signed by the BJC in the case.