Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 25, 2014 Decided June 30, 2014
Full case name	Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al., Petitioners v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., Mardel, Inc., David Green, Barbara Green, Steve Green, Mart Green, and Darsee Lett; Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation, et al., Petitioners v. Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al.
Docket nos.	13-354 13-356
Citations	573 U.S. 682 (more) 134 S. Ct. 2751; 189 L. Ed. 2d 675; 2014 U.S. LEXIS 4505; 123 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 621
Argument	Oral argument
Case history
Prior	denying preliminary injunction, 870 F. Supp. 2d 1278 (W.D. Okla. 2012), denying injunction pending appeal, 133 S. Ct. 641 (Sotomayor, Circuit Justice), reversing and remanding, 723 F.3d 1114 (10th Cir. 2013).
Subsequent	issuing injunction, No. CIV-12-1000-HE (W.D. Okla. Nov. 19, 2014).
Holding
As applied to privately held for-profit corporations, a contraceptive mandate under the Department of Health and Human Services regulations violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 because they are substantial burdens under that law. The Court assumes that guaranteeing cost-free access to the four challenged contraceptive methods is a compelling governmental interest, but the government has failed to show that the mandate is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Case opinions
Majority	Alito, joined by Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas
Concurrence	Kennedy
Dissent	Ginsburg, joined by Sotomayor; Breyer, Kagan (all but Part III–C–1)
Dissent	Breyer and Kagan
Laws applied
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Religious Freedom Restoration Act U.S. Const. amend. I

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 682 (2014), is a landmark decision^[1][2] in United States corporate law by the United States Supreme Court allowing privately held for-profit corporations to be exempt from a regulation that its owners religiously object to, if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law's interest, according to the provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. It is the first time that the Court has recognized a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief,^[3] but it is limited to privately held corporations.^[a] The decision does not address whether such corporations are protected by the free exercise of religion clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution.

For such companies, the Court's majority directly struck down the contraceptive mandate, a regulation adopted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requiring employers to cover certain contraceptives for their female employees, by a 5–4 vote.^[4] The court said that the mandate was not the least restrictive way to ensure access to contraceptive care, noting that a less restrictive alternative was being provided for religious non-profits, until the Court issued an injunction 3 days later, effectively ending said alternative, replacing it with a government-sponsored alternative for any female employees of privately held corporations that do not wish to provide birth control.^[5] The ruling is considered to be part of the political controversy regarding the Affordable Care Act in the United States.^[6]

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