Religious Exemptions: Civil Rights and the Parameters of Liberty | Univ. of Arkansas

at University of Arkansas School of Law
1045 W. Maple Street
Fayetteville, AR

In the wake of same-sex marriage on the one hand, and Hobby Lobby on the other, there have been 35 Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs) introduced in states across the country — including, controversially, in Arkansas.

The public rhetoric is polarized: religious liberty one hand, homophobia on the other; government coercion and corporate coercion; the First Amendment and women’s and LGBT rights. How are civil rights and religious liberty claims to be accommodated? What distinctions can be made among religious exemptions? How might exemptions impact sexual, gender, religious, and ethnic minorities?