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Rfra Rights Revisited: Substantial Burdens, Judicial Competence, And The Religious Nonprofit Cases, Scott W. Gaylord

Missouri Law Review

This Article contends that on remand, the circuit majority should join the Eighth Circuit and uphold the right of religious nonprofits to forego the notice required under the Accommodation. Contrary to the majority’s claim, Hobby Lobby and Holt v. Hobbs preclude courts from deciding whether the ACA (or any other statute) actually burdens a religious adherent’s sincerely held beliefs. Although, as Chief Justice Marshall famously declared, “it is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to declare what the law is,” courts lack the authority and competence to declare what the religious commitments of a faith are and …