Last October, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on a case involving the “ministerial exception,” a provision that bars the government from making employment decisions regarding church ministers. Leondra R. Kruger represented the Obama administration and made the striking claim that the government should not be barred from policing the hiring policies of churches.
In January, in a very rare unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that churches are entitled to make employment decisions without interference by the government. In doing so, the high court affirmed the doctrine of “ministerial exception.”
This was a great victory for religious liberty and a huge defeat for the Obama administration. When the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in October, the Obama administration’s lawyer proved to be such a secular zealot that she stunned even the more liberal members of the high court. Kruger made such an extremist argument that she even got Justice Elena Kagan to agree wholeheartedly with Justice Antonin Scalia.
Had the Obama administration won, the government would have been able to order the Catholic Church to accept women priests.
Many thanks to Leondra for blowing it big time.
