Supreme Court expands protections for religious schools from nondiscrimination laws

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that religious schools are allowed to fire religion teachers for any reason they wish, a major expansion of protections for religious institutions against nondiscrimination laws.

The case, Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, concerned the so-called ministerial exception, which exempts certain religious institutions from nondiscrimination laws. In a 7-2 decision with a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, the court held that “the independence of religious institutions in matters of ‘faith and doctrine’ is closely linked to independence in what the Court has termed ‘matters of church government.’”