Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 682 (2014), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

The Affordable Care Act required employers to provide health insurance covering contraception. Hobby Lobby, a closely held corporation whose owners held religious objections to certain contraceptives, challenged the mandate under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The owners argued that providing coverage would violate their religious beliefs.

Significance

Justice Alito’s 5-4 opinion held that closely held corporations are ‘persons’ under RFRA and that the contraception mandate substantially burdened the owners’ religious exercise. Under RFRA’s strict scrutiny test, the government had not used the least restrictive means to achieve its interest (the government could provide contraception directly). The decision was the first time the Supreme Court recognized that for-profit corporations could exercise religion under federal law, though the Court limited its holding to closely held corporations.

Category

US Federal Case Law