Attn: Kosher butchers.
You know that contraceptive mandate now before the Supreme Court? Turns out it may affect your freedom to keep kashrut — not to mention your living.
At least, that is the opinion of the solicitor general of the United States, Donald Verrilli. He’s arguing the case for the Obama administration. And the claim is that for-profit corporations such as Hobby Lobby have no right to make free-exercise claims under the First Amendment.
Justice Samuel Alito raised the issue of kosher and halal slaughterhouses during the oral arguments. It hasn’t generated much press attention, but it made for a fascinating exchange. Alito wondered what would happen if Congress passed a law modeled on a regulation in Denmark’s, which requires butchers to stun animals before killing them — which is contrary to Jewish dietary laws. When Verrilli danced around Alito’s question, he found himself pressed to answer by Justice Stephen Breyer:
“Take five Jewish or Muslim butchers, and what you’re saying to them is if they choose to work under the corporate form, which is viewed universally, you have to give up on that form the Freedom of Exercise Clause that you’d otherwise have.” Breyer went on: “I need to know what your response is.”
Verrilli essentially confirmed the Obama administration’s view: A kosher butcher who incorporates would forfeit his free-exercise claims against laws and mandates that violate his religious beliefs and may mean the loss of his livelihood.
Justice Breyer clearly believes this argument absurd. We would only add: and a radical departure from a long American tradition of respect for and accommodation of the religious practices of our citizens.
That comment leads me to believe that the Supremes may well strike down the requirement.
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