PEERING INTO THE CORPORATE SOUL: HOBBY LOBBY STORES, INC. V. SEBELIUS AND HOW FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS EXERCISE RELIGION

Amidst the storm of legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act and its contraceptive mandate, religious business owners have unearthed an entirely novel question of constitutional law: are for-profit corporations entitled to the protections of the First Amendment's Free 'Exercise Clause? The answer to this contentious question raises issues involving several fundamental areas of law, such as of statutory interpretation, corporate structure and governance, and First Amendment jurisprudence. The Circuit Courts of Appeals are split over how to answer it, and recently the Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve it. In Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, the Tenth Circuit held that for-profit corporations are entitled to free exercise rights. Its opinion articulates the one of the most detailed and thorough analyses on this issue, which will likely play a significant role in the Supreme Court's decision.