re: #266 ObserverArt

Have you seen this? I’m just now trying to take it in.

Christian Science Monitor.

Was vetoed Arizona bill misrepresented? What constitutional scholars say.

“The real problem with the Kansas bill is not that it proposes a specific rule, but that it proposes a very one-sided and unfair rule,” the scholars said.

“We agree with Congress and a clear majority of states that government should not burden a person’s religious practice without a compelling interest,” they said in the letter. “But sometimes government does have compelling interests, and then religious practices must be burdened. The Arizona bill recognizes that; the Kansas bill does not.”

The scholars added: “People claiming that the two bills are similar are simply smearing the Arizona bill, disregarding the long and successful history of state and federal RFRAs.”

Among the 11 signers of the letter are Stanford law professor and former appeals court Judge Michael McConnell, Virginia law school professor Douglas Laycock, Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon, and Notre Dame law professor Richard Garnett.