The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear another major case involving religious liberty and COVID-19 vaccine mandates, leaving unresolved important questions about how federal civil rights protections interact with state mandates. While the Court passed on the case, several justices argued the issue is too significant to ignore.
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From The Federalist:
In its latest order list, the high court revealed that it will not take up and hear arguments in Doe v. Hochul next term. The case involves a challenge brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by New York health care workers who were fired after choosing not to get the Covid shot due to their religious beliefs.
SCOTUS rules require that at least four justices must agree to hear a case before it can be considered by the full court. But according to Monday’s order list, only Justices Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito were willing to hear the Doe case.
Writing on behalf of his fellow dissenters, Gorsuch noted how the district court and 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the plaintiffs’ lawsuit, with the latter opting not to “assess the reasonableness of the plaintiffs’ requested accommodations.” He further observed how the circuit court reasoned that granting their sought-after religious accommodations “would have imposed an ‘undue hardship’ on their employers because it ‘would have required the [employers] to violate the state [vaccine] regulation’ and ‘subjected the [employers] to financial penalties or a suspension or revocation of their operating licenses.’”
While noting that the Covid outbreak is over, Gorsuch pointed out how health care workers were heralded as “courageous[]” for “serv[ing] on the front line during a pandemic only then to lose their jobs” as the result of such mandates. He subsequently warned that, if the 2nd Circuit’s rule is permitted to dominate the country’s legal landscape, “civil rights protected by federal law will give way whenever a contrary state law — even an unconstitutional state law — is in play.”
“Put simply, addressing this case is well worth our time — and correcting its error should have been an easy business,” Gorsuch wrote.
Subtly jabbing his colleagues for their unwillingness to consider the case, the justice highlighted how the high court was willing to “summarily reverse[] a similar decision” involving Louisiana courts — which “held that a state statute barred a plaintiff’s federal claims” — not that long ago. In quoting from that decision, he reasoned that “[i]t would have been the simplest thing to repeat that same message here,” or, if some agree with the 2nd Circuit, to have “scheduled this case for argument.”
The lawsuit stems from New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, which was implemented during the pandemic and resulted in thousands of workers facing termination if they declined vaccination. Although many pandemic-era mandates have since expired, legal challenges have continued as former employees seek relief under federal civil rights laws, arguing that employers failed to provide reasonable religious accommodations as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Justice Gorsuch’s dissent raises broader concerns that extend beyond COVID-19. At issue is whether employers may deny federally protected religious accommodations simply because complying with them would conflict with a state law or regulation. If lower courts continue to adopt the Second Circuit’s reasoning, similar questions could arise whenever state mandates appear to conflict with federal religious liberty protections.
This case is another reminder that the defense of religious freedom requires ongoing vigilance. While the pandemic has passed, the legal precedents established during those years may continue to shape how believers are treated in the workplace and in public life. Let’s pray that courts at every level will faithfully uphold the constitutional and statutory protections that allow Americans to live out their sincerely held religious convictions without fear of unjust discrimination.
How are you praying for religious liberty in America? Share your prayers and relevant Scriptures in the comments below.
(Excerpt from The Federalist. Photo Credit: Braňo on Unsplash)
