Free Exercise of Religion Before the Bench: Empirical Evidence from the Federal Courts

37 Pages Posted: 19 Mar 2012

See all articles by Michael Heise

Michael Heise

Cornell Law School

Gregory C. Sisk

University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)

Date Written: 2012

Abstract

We analyze various factors that influence judicial decisions in cases involving Free Exercise Clause or religious accommodation claims and decided by lower federal courts. Religious liberty claims, including those moored in the Free Exercise Clause, typically generate particularly difficult questions about how best to structure the sometimes contentious relation between the religious faithful and the sovereign government. Such difficult questions arise frequently in and are often framed by litigation. Our analyses include all digested Free Exercise and religious accommodation claim decisions by federal court of appeals and district court judges from 1996 through 2005. As it relates to one key extra-judicial factor — judicial ideology — our main finding is that judicial ideology did not correlate with case outcomes. While judicial ideology did not emerge as a significant influence in the Free Exercise context, however, other variables did. Notably, Muslim claimants fared poorly, cases involving exemption from anti-discrimination laws were significantly more likely to result in pro-accommodation rulings, and Asian and Latino judges as well as judges who were former law professors were particularly amenable to Free Exercise and accommodation claims. On balance, our results paint a more complex and nuanced picture of how extra-judicial factors inform Free Exercise and accommodation litigation outcomes as well as judicial decisionmaking more generally.

Keywords: religious liberty, religious freedom, freedom of religion, free exercise, free exercise of religion, religion clauses, first amendment, Muslims, judicial decision-making, empirical legal studies

Suggested Citation

Heise, Michael and Sisk, Gregory C., Free Exercise of Religion Before the Bench: Empirical Evidence from the Federal Courts (2012). U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-07, Cornell Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-21, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2025149 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2025149

Michael Heise (Contact Author)

Cornell Law School ( email )

308 Myron Taylor Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-4901
United States
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607-255-7193 (Fax)

Gregory C. Sisk

University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota) ( email )

MSL 400, 1000 La Salle Avenue
Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 55403-2005
United States
651-962-4892 (Phone)

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