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Kevin Theriot: Court affirms churches? right to select pastor without gov?t interference

By Alliance Alert

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: "This [9th Circuit's] en banc opinion [in Rosas v. The Corporation of the Catholic Archbishop of Seattle, No. 09-3500], which has more precedential value than opinions from 3 judge panels, first confirmed the vitality of the ministerial exception to prohibitions on employment discrimination. It explained that '[t]he Free Exercise Clause rational for protecting a church?s personnel decisions concerning its ministers is the necessity of allowing the church to choose its representatives using whatever criteria it deems relevant. Indeed, the ministerial relationship lies so close to the heart of the church that it would offend the Free Exercise Clause simply to articulate a religious justification for its personnel decisions.'"

Full post as published by Constitutionally Correct on December 20, 2010 (boomark / email).