A 'Sincere Religious Belief' Exception to a Public Accommodation Statute
In 303 Creative LLC et al, v. Aubrey Elenis, the Supreme Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business, open to the public, the right to refuse to serve members of a protected class. Courts regularly review and challenge assertions of innocence (or mitigation) in criminal cases based on claims of sincere religious belief. Courts do not undertake such reviews in civil cases. If courts challenged assertions of sincere religious belief, would they have been upheld?
July 17, 2023 at 10:00 AM
9 minute read
Five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage "do not allow business owners and other actors in the economy and in society to deny protected persons equal access to goods and services under a neutral and generally applicable public accommodations law." Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n, 138 S. Ct 1719 (2018).
William Pinzler
The court also recognized the "serious stigma" that would result if "purveyors of goods and services who object to gay marriages for moral and religious reasons" were "allowed to put up signs saying 'no goods or services will be sold if they will be used for gay marriages.'"
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