Though the temporary local, state and federal policies put in place to fight the COVID-19 pandemic may be expiring, they have left an indelible mark on the legal landscape, particularly in the area of religious liberty, legal experts say.
Since the addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett shifted the Supreme Court's ideological balance to the right, many court watchers expect its approach to religious freedom to change accordingly.shadow docket
The upshot of those decisions, experts said, has been a "most-favored nation" rule for religion: the principle that, if any activity is granted an exception under the law for any reason, that exception must also be extended to religion. Before COVID, Bagley said, "it wouldn't be enough to say, well, the law doesn't speak about religion, but it has an effect on my religious practices that's really bad.", which upheld Oregon's ban on the hallucinogenic drug peyote, even in Native American religious ritual. It said that the state's general ban on the drug did not violate the Constitution's free exercise clause because it did not specifically target religion.
, in which then-Justice Anthony Kennedy found that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission was motivated by "hostility" to a baker's religious views when it ordered him to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, and reversed the commission's decision.
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