Columbia Law School Professor Katherine Franke's Testimony Regarding the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA)
July 12, 2016
Access a .pdf of Professor Franke's Testimony, here
On Tuesday, July 12th, Professor Franke delivered testimony on behalf of 20 leading legal scholars providing an in-depth analysis of the meaning and likely effects of the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), were it to become law. The Law, Rights, and Religion Project was particularly compelled to provide testimony to the Committee because the first legislative finding set out in FADA declares that: “Leading legal scholars concur that conflicts between same-sex marriage and religious liberty are real and should be addressed through legislation.” As leading legal scholars we must correct this statement: we do not concur that conflicts between same-sex marriage and religious liberty are real, nor do we hold the view that any such conflict should be addressed through legislation. On the contrary, we maintain that religious liberty rights are already well protected in the U.S. Constitution and in existing federal and state legislation, rendering FADA both unnecessary and harmful.
FADA establishes vague and overly broad religious accommodations that would seriously harm other Americans’ legal rights and protections. Instead of protecting the First Amendment, the First Amendment Defense Act likely violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The Act purports to protect free exercise of religion and prevent discrimination, yet in fact it risks unsettling a well-considered constitutional balance between religious liberty, the prohibition on government endorsement of or entanglement with religion, and other equally fundamental rights.
