Religious Liberty after Fulton v. City of Philadelphia

Published: Dec. 13, 2021, 4:45 p.m.

b'The 2021 National Lawyers Convention took place November 11-13, 2021 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The topic of the conference was "Public and Private Power: Preserving Freedom or Preventing Harm?". This panel discussed "Religious Liberty after Fulton v. City of Philadelphia."
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia was a victory for religious liberty, but it is unclear how broad its implications will be for other cases and what the opinions in Fulton portend for the future of Employment Division v. Smith. The Court’s majority opinion relied on provisions of Philadelphia’s foster care agency contracting process, but the majority also potentially reworked Smith’s understanding of when government regulation is "generally applicable." Meanwhile, several justices indicated a willingness to revisit Smith altogether, though what a post-Smith free exercise jurisprudence would look like remains unclear. This panel will explore these and other questions raised by Fulton and the future of religious free exercise.
Featuring:

Prof. Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Prof. Thomas C. Berg, James L. Oberstar Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of St. Thomas School of Law
Prof. William Marshall, William Rand Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law
Ms. Lori Windham, Senior Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Moderator: Hon. Lawrence VanDyke, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit'