A family seeking the American Dream David and Barbara Green founded Hobby Lobby in a garage. From the beginning, it has been a family business—David worked an extra job to support his family, Barbara mailed out orders, and their children glued picture frames at the kitchen table in exchange for money…
What would you do if an undercover federal agent came into your church service, confiscated your communion wine, and threatened you with criminal prosecution? Sound crazy? Not if you are Native American. Meet Pastor Robert Soto of the Lipan Apache tribe Robert Soto is an award-winning feather dancer and Lipan Apache religious leader. In 2006, he…
Washington, D.C. – At midnight tonight more than 50 briefs will be filed in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Hobby Lobby Stores and the Green family, supporting their challenge to the HHS mandate. Becket represents Hobby Lobby and David and Barbara Green, owners of the family business, and is the leading resource on all…
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the en banc 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a major victory to Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., by reversing and remanding the district court’s erroneous ruling. The circuit court returned the case to the district court with instruction to consider whether to grant Hobby Lobby a preliminary injunction. “Today marks a…
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court granted a landmark victory for religious liberty today, ruling in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby that individuals do not lose their religious freedom when they open a family business. The court ruled 5-4 in favor of David and Barbara Green and their family business, Hobby Lobby,…
WASHINGTON, DC – On Friday, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Hobby Lobby’s petition for en banc hearing, agreeing to place Hobby Lobby’s appeal before the entire court rather than the usual three-judge panel. The full court will consider whether to halt enforcement of the HHS mandate, which forces Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a…
Washington, D.C. – Becket will represent Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma at 9 a.m. CT Friday, July 19, 2013. This hearing comes after the full 10th Circuit granted a major victory to Hobby Lobby, ruling 5-3 that Hobby Lobby can exercise religion under the First Amendment and is likely to win…
Washington, D.C. – The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the landmark case Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, determining whether individuals lose their religious freedom when they open a family business. At issue is the Health and Human Service (HHS) Mandate which requires David and Barbara Green and their family business Hobby Lobby to provide and…
WASHINGTON, DC – Following yesterday’s decision denying its motion for preliminary injunction, Hobby Lobby appealed to the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking relief from the abortion pill mandate, which forces the Christian-owned-and-operated Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., to providethe “morning-after pill” and “week-after pill” in its health insurance plan or face crippling fines up…
Washington, D.C. — Today, Hobby Lobby asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review its case and decide whether the Green family will be required to provide and pay for life-terminating drugs and devices in violation of their religious beliefs. Last month, the government asked the Supreme Court to review the case, and today Hobby Lobby…
by Mark Rienzi Senior Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty A new complicity argument from opponents of religious liberty? Well, here’s something I didn’t expect to read about in the New York Times. You may recall that the Times strongly opposed the efforts by the Green family (who own Hobby Lobby) to avoid…
“Following Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s decision on December 26th denying Hobby Lobby temporary relief from the HHS mandate to provide abortion-causing drugs as part of its healthcare plan, the company faced exposure to penalties beginning January 1. Subsequently, Hobby Lobby discovered a way to shift the plan year for its employee health insurance, thus postponing the…
WASHINGTON – Hobby Lobby, the family-owned arts and crafts business founded by David and Barbara Green, asked the U.S. Supreme Court today to protect them from being forced to violate their deeply held religious beliefs or be forced to pay severe fines. The written brief filed today at the Supreme Court, calls a federal mandate…
WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2013 – The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to take up Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a landmark case addressing the Constitutionally guaranteed rights of business owners to operate their family companies without violating their deeply held religious convictions. The nation’s highest court accepted the federal government’s appeal of a June…
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, a federal court granted Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. a preliminary injunction against the HHS abortion-drug mandate, preventing the government from enforcing the mandate against the Christian company. This victory comes less than a month after a landmark decision by the full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled 5-3 that Hobby Lobby can exercise religion under the…
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, for the first time, a federal court has ordered the government not to enforce the HHS abortion-drug mandate against Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The ruling comes just one day after a dramatic 168-page opinion from the en banc 10th Circuit recognizing that business owners have religious liberty rights. This was the…
WASHINGTON, DC – Following the filing of the last brief in the Hobby Lobby case, a federal judge will hear arguments on November 1, 2012 to consider whether to halt enforcement of the HHS mandate, which forces Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a Christian-owned-and-operated business, to provide the abortion-inducing drugs, the “morning after pill” and “week after pill”,…
In Gundy v. the United States the U.S. Supreme Court had the opportunity to decide whether Congress violated the “nondelegation doctrine” by giving to the U.S. Attorney General Congress’s constitutionally-assigned task of defining the scope of criminal liability. The nondelegation doctrine is an important principle for maintaining our government’s three-branch structure of checks and balances,…
Washington, D.C. – Becket Law will represent Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. before an en banc hearing of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on May 23, 2013. The full court will consider whether to halt enforcement of the HHS mandate, which forces Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned-and-operated business, to provide and pay for emergency contraceptives, such as the “morning-after…
By Zachary Enos, Assistant Director of Communications Looking for the inside scoop on Hobby Lobby’s historic advance of religious liberty? You just found it! Only hours after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Eugene Volokh of the Volokh Conspiracy blog (hosted by the Washington Post) published exclusive legal analysis from Professor Mark Rienzi—one of Hobby Lobby’s lead…
Statement by Rick Warren on Hobby Lobby Lawsuit: “Every American who loves freedom should shudder at the precedent the government is trying to establish by denying Hobby Lobby the full protection of the First Amendment. This case is nothing less than a landmark battle for America’s FIRST freedom, the freedom of religion and the freedom…
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a privately held retail chain with more than 500 arts and crafts stores in 41 states, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, opposing the Health and Human Services mandate, which forces the Christian-owned-and-operated business to provide, without co-pay, the…
The Hill’s Healthwatch, October 21, 2013 “Hobby Lobby’s case raises important questions about who can enjoy religious freedom,” Kyle Duncan, the lead lawyer for Hobby Lobby, said in a statement. “Right now, some courts recognize the rights of business owners like the Green family, and others do not. Religious freedom is too important to be…
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, a federal court denied a request to halt enforcement of the abortion pill mandate which forces the Christian-owned-and-operated Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., to provide the “morning after pill” and “week after pill” in their health insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to $1.3 million dollars per day. “We disagree with…
Washington, D.C. – The Supreme Court granted a victory to David and Barbara Green and their family business, Hobby Lobby, this morning. A press conference call will be held at 12:00pm EST to discuss the ruling and implication of the decision. A full press release will be sent out immediately following the call. The following statement…
Christian Post, May 24, 2013 Kyle Duncan, general counsel for The Becket Fund, argued the case Thursday for the Green family, who own Hobby Lobby and the Christian bookstore Mardel, in Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius, and the government was represented by the Justice Department. Each side had 30 minutes to present their arguments to the…
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for the landmark case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores. on March 25, 2014, 10:00am EST to determine whether individuals lose their religious freedom when they open a family business. The Supreme Court agreed to take up this appeal in November and will review…
Deseret News, June 6, 2014 As a way of explaining what Hobby Lobby is, and how it works as a Family Business, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Hobby Lobby, shared a video that specifically looks at the history of the company owned by the David and Barbara Green family.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, a federal court denied a request to temporarily stop enforcement of the abortion pill mandate, which would force the Christian-owned-and-operated Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., to provide the “morning-after pill” and “week-after pill” in its health insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to $1.3 million per day. “The Green family is…
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Green family—founders and owners of the arts and crafts chain, Hobby Lobby Stores, and Mardel, Christian and Education stores—filed the final brief in support of their motion for preliminary injunctive relief against the HHS mandate, a federal regulation that will force them, in two months, either to violate their faith…
Washington, D.C. — Today, the United States government asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the Hobby Lobby case to determine whether the Green family will be required to provide and pay for life-terminating drugs and devices in violation of their religious beliefs. The government’s appeal makes it highly likely that the Supreme Court will…
Washington, D.C. — Last night, nine U.S. Senators and two U.S. Representatives, along with the Oklahoma Attorney General and 11 other key groups, filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Becket’s challenge to the HHS mandate on behalf of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The HHS mandate forces the Christian-owned-and-operated business to provide the “morning after pill” and “week after pill”…
Washington, D.C. – Hobby Lobby, the family-owned arts and crafts business founded by David and Barbara Green, will ask the U.S. Supreme Court today to protect them from being forced to violate their deeply held religious beliefs or be forced to pay severe fines. The brief will be filed today at the Supreme Court, with…
The Hill , June 25, 2014 As a last resort, the Little Sisters, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty (which also represents Hobby Lobby), filed a lawsuit challenging the contraception mandate—one of 51 suits on behalf of over 200 non-profit ministries. Although the Little Sisters make many of the same arguments as Hobby…
Washington Post June 30, 2014 Here are a few initial thoughts on today’s decision in Hobby Lobby from the perspective of a law firm — The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty — that has been litigating these cases against the Department of Justice across the country for almost three years, and was counsel for Hobby…
By Adèle Keim, Legal Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Tired of all the overblown claims about what the Supreme Court actually did in Hobby Lobby? So is the Washington Post. And Politifact. Megan McArdle’s Q & A at Bloomberg is a terrific antidote as well. And of course, you can find Becket’s…
The Oklahoman, March 30, 2013 Typically, appeals cases are heard by a panel of three judges, but Hobby Lobby had asked the full court to hear the case — a request that federal appeals courts seldom grant, said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is defending Hobby Lobby in…
CNS News July 11, 2014 The U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling has opened a door for religious non-profits that also oppose the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate and its resulting accommodation authorizing third-parties to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, says Mark Rienzi, senior counsel for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The ruling will strengthen the…
Salt Lake Tribune, March 15, 2014 In a few days, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, a major test of Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate.
Mark Rienzi explains that the Hobby Lobby decision on Monday was historic in many ways. The decisions clarified the idea that for-profit corporations can exercise their religion and stands as the first time the Supreme Court addressed the question of substantial burden under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Mark also adds that the decision will…
The Oklahoman, April 17, 2013 The Oklahoma City retailer with a 23,000-person workforce has raised its minimum wage for full-timers for the fifth straight year. The news comes just ahead of oral arguments in Hobby Lobby’s legal fight over Obamacare’s overreach into business practices.
By Daniel Blomberg, Legal Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty This is almost getting old: at the same time that the federal government is arguing that family-owned business can’t have a conscience, it is lauding big businesses for exercising their conscience in a way that the government likes.
The Associated Press, May 23, 2013 Thirty-one private companies have sued to overturn the regulation on similar grounds. Their cases are pending. Hobby Lobby is the best-known; most of the others are smaller, family-run and privately held, so they do not have to run legal strategy by shareholders like larger, publicly traded firms do.
The Oklahoman, May 23, 2013 “Do you have any authority that a for-profit corporation can exercise religion? How does that work?” she asked Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing Hobby Lobby in the case.
The Associated Press, May 23, 2013 Hobby Lobby’s lawyer argued that the Greens shouldn’t face fines for not complying with mandatory contraceptive coverage simply because their business makes a profit. The stores are a “profit-making company, yes, but also a ministry,” Kyle Duncan argued.
EWTN News, May 24, 2013 On May 23, Duncan argued Hobby Lobby’s case before the full eight-member panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Such cases are usually heard by only three judges of an appellate court. “The mere fact we were standing there before the entire 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is encouraging in…
The Jurist, April 24, 2014 Alliance Defending Freedom represents the Hahns and Conestoga Wood Specialties, and the Becket Fund represents the Greens and Hobby Lobby.
YouTube, June 26, 2013 Becket Fund’s Kyle Duncan appears on the Fox Business Network with Stuart Varney on June 26, 2013 to discuss the latest in the Hobby Lobby case.
World Magazine August 14, 2014 The state appealed the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case was put on hold in December 2013 until the Supreme Court ruled in the Hobby Lobby case. The Becket Fund and the Alliance Defending Freedom, representing the pharmacy, filed a joint brief on July…
Associated Press, June 27, 2013 In a health care decision giving hope to opponents of the federal birth-control coverage mandate, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Hobby Lobby stores won’t have to start paying millions of dollars in fines next week for not complying with the requirement.
Washington, DC – Hobby Lobby continues its battle for religious freedom following a brief filed on Monday by the Department of Justice, asserting the company gives up its religious freedom when going into business. “That’s a startling and disturbing claim for our government to make. The Green family is asking to continue to live their…
The Hill, July 19, 2013 Attorneys for Hobby Lobby claimed victory in [Judge Joe] Heaton’s decision. “The tide has turned against the [Health and Human Services] mandate,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, in a statement.
Townhall June 23, 2014 The Supreme Court is set to make a decision in the famous Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby case by June 30 before it lets out for the summer, and religious employers are poised to see whether they will be allowed an exemption for their beliefs. Adele Keim of the Becket Fund for…
Deseret News July 21, 2014 The Becket Fund’s Arriaga wrote Hobby Lobby’s health plan covers “all HHS-required contraceptive methods that do not have a demonstrated risk of destroying a newly created human life — including sterilizations for women.”
The Oklahoman, April 3, 2013 A panel of nine federal appeals court judges will hear oral arguments in Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.’s fight against part of the Affordable Care Act on May 23 in Denver.
Washington Post, July 19, 2013 Kyle Duncan, Hobby Lobby’s lead attorney, argued that requiring the company to comply with the mandate would be a burden to religious exercise. The U.S. Department of Human Services has granted exemptions from portions of the health care law for plans that cover tens of millions of people and an…
ABA Journal January 1, 2015 Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, believes there’s a “very serious constitutional issue” in this disparity. The fund plans to help defend McAllen. “There’s a lot of dispute about what the establishment clause means these days, but one thing it clearly means is that the…
Los Angeles Times, December 5, 2013 The government and others argue that the Greens’ religious beliefs are irrelevant because they’ve freely chosen to enter the rough-and-tumble world of commerce and that, in any event, the exercise of religion is for individuals, not corporations. But Hobby Lobby’s lawyers at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty will…
Washington Examiner, February 6, 2014 Arriaga said that Citizens United is “very important” to Hobby Lobby’s argument. “But we’re not only resting on Citizens United,” she said
Following the en banc hearing before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Becket has released the following statement: “We are encouraged by today’s hearing before the full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Kyle Duncan, General Counsel for Becket and counsel on the case. “Being heard before all eight judges – rather than the typical three-judge…
Washington, D.C. – Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), founded by a cloistered nun and dedicated to spreading the teachings of the Catholic Church, filed an emergency appeal today asking the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the world’s largest religious media network from violating its deeply help religious convictions or paying crippling fines to the IRS…
June 30, 2014 – The Washington Times “The administration cannot force closely held private corporations to pay for contraception in their health insurance plans if it violates their religious beliefs, a divided Supreme Court ruled Monday, dealing a political and logistical setback to President Obama’s signature law.”
July 1, 2014 – Washington Post “Religious freedom groups are preparing for the next contraception coverage case, Little Sisters of the Poor v. Sebelius.”
USA Today, June 29, 2013 “The opinion makes it very clear what is a valid religious belief and what is not,” said Emily Hardman, spokeswoman for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The group is representing the companies and their owners, the Green family.
Reuters, July 19, 2013 “There is a substantial public interest in ensuring that no individual or corporation has their legs cut out from under them while these difficult issues are resolved,” [Judge Joe] Heaton said at a hearing, according to the Becket Fund.
Washington Examiner, January 29, 2014 “The broad support shows that Americans of many faiths and backgrounds want to see religious freedom protected,” said Lori Windham, senior counsel at the Becket Fund. “Religious freedom is important to Democrats and Republicans, to Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others.”
Washington Times, March 31, 2014 The Becket Fund (representing the Green family) notes that tens of millions have been excluded from this mandate for other reasons.
Deseret News, July 2, 2014 Hannah C. Smith is a member of the Deseret News Editorial Advisory Board and Senior Counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest law firm that defends religious liberty for people of all faiths.
Los Angles Times July 21, 2014 The tiny Becket Fund for Religious Liberty was the legal power behind the high court’s decision last month to extend religious rights to corporations for the first time. Before that, the Washington firm’s attorneys successfully defended a church school’s religious right to be exempted from federal antidiscrimination rules and, in…
The Herald Journal August 2, 2014 After Emily Hardman graduated from Mountain Crest High School in 2002, she eventually went on to law school and took a job with a law firm in Washington D.C. — never dreaming that within a few short years, her firm would win a United States Supreme Court case being…
National Journal August 22, 2014 The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has helped coordinate the legal challenges to the mandate, said it was still reviewing the proposal, calling it “the latest step in the administration’s long retreat” from the original mandate. Read the full article here.
October 11, 2016, Politico Several other religious non-profits filed for the accommodation, as well, including St. Joseph’s Abbey, a community of monks in Massachusetts, and the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. Mark Rienzi, a Becket Fund attorney who has represented several clients opposed to the mandate and accommodation, including the Little Sisters of the Poor order of…
ACU Today August 20, 2014 Attorney Lori (Halstead ’01) Windham has represented Amish builders penalized for their traditional construction practices, a Santeria priest prohibited from conducting animal sacrifice, and public school districts sued for accommodating religious expression. But one of her most significant, and certainly most publicized, cases won before the U.S. Supreme Court in…
Washington Post, June 30, 2014 Hasson’s vision and will has led Becket from a one-man show in 1994 to the Supreme Court, where justices on Monday ruled in Becket’s favor, agreeing that closely held corporations can have religious objections. When the case was argued this spring, some said it could affect church-state relations for decades.…
Washington, D.C. — Following yesterday’s 8th Circuit ruling in O’Brien v. HHS, granting temporary relief from the HHS Mandate, Becket urged the 10th Circuit to grant identical relief in their appeal on behalf of Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned-and-operated business that in five weeks faces crippling fines of up to $1.3 million per day if they do not…
The Huffington Post, April 5, 2013 The most prominent of those cases — Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius — took a significant step forward last week, when the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Hobby Lobby’s request to expedite the case and hear it en banc (by all judges on the court). Kyle Duncan, the attorney…
CNN, March 25, 2014 “Ultimately, Hobby Lobby isn’t interfering with anyone’s access–they are simply saying they can’t provide a small handful of products the government admits may terminate a human life,” says Mark Rienzi, Senior Counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents the Hobby Lobby in the case vs. Sebelius.
Bloomberg August 8, 2014 “To my knowledge, the D.C. Circuit is the first court of appeals to apply Hobby Lobby in a remanded HHS mandate case,” said Adele Keim, an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington-based, nonprofit religion advocacy group which represented Hobby Lobby in its legal challenge. Read the rest…