AFPI Urges Supreme Court to Protect Religious Liberty in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) today filed an amicus brief in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to provide much-needed clarity on the meaning of “religion” under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. The Supreme Court has never adopted a clear definition of religion for Free Exercise Clause cases. As a result, lower courts have applied inconsistent and often subjective tests, leaving religious Americans, faith-based schools, charities, ministries and courts without a stable rule upon which they may rely.

This case centers on Colorado’s exclusion of faith-based schools from its universal preschool program based on religious beliefs and practices. AFPI’s brief argues the First Amendment’s protection for the “free exercise” of religion cannot be fully enforced unless courts understand what the Constitution means by “religion.”`

“Religious liberty is a natural right the Constitution recognizes and protects,” said Leigh Ann O’Neill, chief legal affairs officer at AFPI. “The First Amendment protects more than private belief. It protects the ability of religious Americans and religious institutions to live out sincere duties of faith in public life.”

AFPI argues the Founders understood religion as more than personal philosophy, ideology, ethics or private conscience. The brief asks the court to recognize religion as a system of sincere beliefs and practices derived from duties owed to a sacred authority that is prior to and beyond human relations and that receives allegiance and worship.

To read more about AFPI’s fight to defend American values in the courts, click here.