I am totally floored by the hypocrisy of Antonin Scalia. He claims to be an originalist, but his “principles” are as thin as his hair. In reality, he’s just another right-wing, corporation-loving ideologue who puts his own opinions ahead of what's actually written in the Constitution. How do I know?
In this Supreme Court case 20 years ago, two Oregon men were fired from their jobs and then denied unemployment after using peyote in a religious ceremony at their Native American Church. The men sued the state for infringing on their religious rights by denying them unemployment.
In an opinion that 100% contradicts the Hobby Lobby decision, Scalia and the court found that the religious beliefs of these two men did not trump the law. This is from the opinion that Scalia wrote.
We have never held that an individual's religious beliefs excuse him from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that the State is free to regulate.
…
Conscientious scruples have not, in the course of the long struggle for religious toleration, relieved the individual from obedience to a general law not aimed at the promotion or restriction of religious beliefs. The mere possession of religious convictions which contradict the relevant concerns of a political society does not relieve the citizen from the discharge of political responsibilities.
To summarize: corporations are free from the law when it conflicts with their religious beliefs. But individual people have to obey the law when it conficts with their religious beliefs.
Thanks for clearing that up, Antonin. You are a jurist for the ages!
(h/t to the Rude Pundit)