“Adequate” in Defense of Religious Freedom Is Not Enough

Illustration on the Constitution and religious education by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

​The Department of Justice recently made a very public edit in a brief before a federal court in Oregon that weakened its standard for the protection of religious freedom.
 
Government lawyers had previously declared to the court that it would “vigorously” defend religious freedom. A day after its filing, Department of Justice lawyers submitted a revised brief that omitted “vigorously” and promised instead to be “adequate” in protecting religious freedom.
 
Ken Marcus, founder and chairman of The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, writes about this Oregon case regarding an attempt to remove the exemption that religious colleges enjoy in federal regulation.