Religious Liberty as a Judicial Autoimmune Disorder: The Supreme Court Repudiates its Own Authority in Kennedy v. Bremerton

13 Pages Posted: 19 Apr 2023 Last revised: 1 Sep 2023

Date Written: April 18, 2023

Abstract

Today’s Supreme Court is so predisposed to find discrimination against religion that it declared it to be present in a case where the discriminator was obeying the Court’s own commands. In Kennedy v. Bremerton, the defendant school district and the lower federal courts had faithfully followed Supreme Court authority. The Court had, until then, consistently insisted that lower courts are bound by Supreme Court precedent. In Kennedy, the Court attacked the basis of its own authority.

Keywords: Religion, First Amendment, Discrimination, Courts, Kennedy v. Bremerton, Neil Gorsuch

JEL Classification: K10, K19, K30, K39, K40, K49

Suggested Citation

Koppelman, Andrew M., Religious Liberty as a Judicial Autoimmune Disorder: The Supreme Court Repudiates its Own Authority in Kennedy v. Bremerton (April 18, 2023). Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 74, No. 6, 2023, Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 23-24, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4422716

Andrew M. Koppelman (Contact Author)

Northwestern University School of Law ( email )

375 E. Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
United States
312-503-8431 (Phone)

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