‘When religion flourishes, culture flourishes too’
By 
A man blows a shofar on May 23, 2022, outside the WHO World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. (Video screenshot)
By Kate Anderson
Daily Caller News Foundation
- The Supreme Court could hear cases next term that have important ramifications for Americans of faith, according to legal experts who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
- The ruling in Groff v. DeJoy blew apart a nearly 50-year precedent regarding religious accommodations in the workplace, and Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of First Liberty Institute, said that he believes numerous cases on this topic will pour in — allowing the court to set a new standard.
- “It’s really interesting if you look at last decade, or a little more, since 2011, the Supreme Court has heard 25 cases involving religious freedom issues and 24 out of 25 have been in favor of the religious freedom side,” Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, told the DCNF.
The Supreme Court will potentially weigh several faith-based cases involving free speech, sidewalk counseling outside of abortion clinics and workplace accommodations after handing down several religious freedom victories this past year, according to legal experts who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The court handed down two highly-anticipated decisions in June, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis and Groff v. DeJoy — the former dealing with the right of business owners to not be compelled to use certain types of speech and the latter regarding an employee’s right to a religious accommodation. These cases have set the stage for several other cases to be brought before the Supreme Court next year, legal experts told the DCNF. (RELATED: ‘The Lord Was Working’: Christian Web Designer At The Center Of Landmark Supreme Court Decision Speaks Out)
“So far the court has only filled up around a third of its docket, maybe 20 out of 60 cases, or 20 out of 70 cases, and hasn’t really started filling in religious liberty cases yet,” Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, told the DCNF. “So we’re more in a position of like, what are the big cases heading up to the Supreme Court in the near future?”
One such case that could be heard involves Christian baker Jack Phillips, who won a Supreme Court case in 2018 for refusing to make a cake for a gay couple. Despite his initial win, Phillips was sued again in 2021 for refusing to decorate a cake for a gender transition party and is currently awaiting a decision from the Colorado Supreme Court, according to John Bursch, senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
