Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Indiana bill seeks to clarify religious freedom protection

Indiana bill seeks to clarify religious freedom protection

Last updated on: January 16, 2016 at 11:54 pm by CNA Daily News

Indiana bill seeks to clarify religious freedom protection 2016-01-16T23:54:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Indianapolis, Ind., Jan 16, 2016 / 04:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A proposed law in Indiana would replace the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act with language that its advocates say is clearer in protecting religious liberty and certain other rights.

The measure, Bill 66, omits the amendment Indiana Gov. Mike Pence added to the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act last April after intense backlash from critics, who called it “anti-gay” and threatened to boycott the state.

The amended “fix” stated that the religious freedom law would not permit discrimination for services, housing or employment based on sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Bill 66 does not include this stipulation, which some proponents of religious freedom believed to undermine the law’s purpose, leaving them vulnerable to legal attacks.

Like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the proposed new law would require “strict scrutiny” as the appropriate level of judicial review for legal challenges involving religious freedom. As a result, courts would evaluate cases based on certain strict criteria: Government may not place a substantial burden on free exercise of religion unless there is a compelling state interest for doing so, and the least restrictive means are used.

In addition to religious freedom, the bill would also protect five other rights with a similar “strict scrutiny” standard of judicial review: the right to worship; the right to free exercise and conscience; the right to freedom of thought and speech; the right of assemblage and petition; and the right to bear arms.

Bill 66 was recently sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing.

“This new bill has many positive aspects,” Glenn Tebbe, executive director of Indiana Catholic Conference told CNA. “It provides for strict scrutiny for government to have as a criteria when engaging in people’s rights. And in particular with religious freedom, it does so in a clear manner, tying it to Indiana’s Bill of Rights.”

“The bill also removes the ‘fix’ added to RFRA proposed last year,” he continued. “The amended law now in effect leaves a lot of unanswered questions which could potentially lead to unnecessary conflict between people and institutions.”

“This new law addresses this and should be beneficial in the long-run to preserve the religious freedom of all citizens,” Tebbe said.

But some argue that the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act already protects religious freedom, questioning whether there is a need to focus only on a handful of rights in the bill.

“Indiana already has an effective RFRA law that protects religious freedom,” Rick Garnett, law professor at Notre Dame University told CNA. “Unfortunately, it has been badly misrepresented.”

“This legislation takes a new way to approach these issues by requiring strict judicial scrutiny of a catalogue of rights for some and not others,” he said. “Unlike RFRA laws with an established judicial track record, we have less certainty on how this new law will work in practice.”

“What we would need to know is if there is evidence in Indiana that these other rights mentioned in this bill are vulnerable and not being respected,” Garnett added.

Sen. R. Michael Young (R-Indianapolis), who sponsored the legislation, said he wanted it to be clear and focused.

“Last year, people misunderstood RFRA and so it was important for me to write this new law and clarify things,” Young told CNA.

“The right to protest government is as important as the right to free speech and thought, the right to bear arms, and the right of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion,” he maintained.

“When it comes to our core rights, we should have the highest judicial standards—that is, strict scrutiny,” Young said. “But strict scrutiny doesn’t apply to all 37 Articles of the state’s Bill of Rights. Many of these don’t apply to personal rights but to group rights.”

LGBT groups have opposed the bill, saying it could be used to discriminate against them and derail their efforts to obtain new civil rights protections.

But Young reassures his critics that this will not be the case.

“This law will not be used to discriminate against anyone,” he said. “There is nothing in this bill that will allow anyone to discriminate against anyone for any reason.”

“All it will ensure is that the court will have a standard it will use to make decisions in all cases,” Young continued. “If the issue concerns religious freedom, the court will use strict scrutiny to resolve the issue.”

“This law does not favor one group of people over another,” he said. “It protects all people and fundamental rights in the same manner.”

Photo credit: Henryk Sadura via www.shutterstock.com.

Previous Post

January 16, 2016

Nebraska's bishops call for reversal of transgender policy for schools sports

Next Post

January 17, 2016 Every migrant has a story and culture of value, Pope Francis says

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the name of the queen who visited Solomon?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Queen Jezebel Queen Vashti Queen Esther The Queen of Sheba