Scotuscast

On May 11, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in the consolidated cases Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel, which involves a dispute over whether the First Amendment's religion clauses prevent civil courts from adjudicating employment-discrimination claims brought by an employee against her religious employer when the employee carried out important religious functions.In 2012, the case Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC, the Supreme Court, unanimously held that, under the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses, “it is impermissible for the government to contradict a church’s determination of who can act as its ministers.” Accordingly, the Court recognized that there is a “ministerial exception” that precludes the application of employment-discrimination laws to claims concerning the relationship between a religious institution and its ministers. But who qualifies as a minister? The Hosanna-Tabor Cou