An amendment to Arizona’s existing religious freedom law was demagogued to death last week by pundits and politicians who warned that it would usher in a new era of Jim Crow for gay people. “You can believe anything you want,” said CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. “You can’t turn away gay people from your store–unless this law becomes effective.”

Toobin’s claim, widely echoed in the media, was unfounded. According to a bipartisan group of religious liberty scholars, the legislation would have simply clarified that business owners and private citizens subject to civil lawsuits may defend themselves under Arizona’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

Recommended Stories

Court rightly tells Biden he can’t force nuns to provide transgender surgeries

Ignore the liberal freak-out: Justices got it right on Hobby Lobby and religious freedom

As religious freedom law turns 25, vast majority of Democrats oppose what Bill Clinton signed into law