Most legal experts, court watchers, and even casual observers would not likely characterize the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit as a bastion of conservative jurisprudence. But, in a recent decision, a panel of that court unanimously rejected the state of Washington’s attempt to force a religious ministry to hire employees whose beliefs contradict those of the ministry.
The right of religious organizations to hire only employees who are aligned with and live out their religious beliefs is a foundational tenet of our Constitution’s protection of religious liberty. The free exercise of religion by individuals, churches, and other faith-based ministries is essential to our founders’ vision of ordered liberty and the bedrock upon which our free civil society rests.
