[Alberta's Child]

Interestingly, the Federal courts seemed to have made a much stronger statement in support of religious freedom in the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case. It was decided on explicit religious freedom grounds, but the U.S. Supreme Court made a landmark ruling that said closely held corporations (i.e., corporations that are not publicly traded, and where the owners control the sale of all shares) are protected by the First Amendment against government regulations that impose burdens on their religious freedom.

I believe any individual or group of partners who owns a business would do well to draft a set of company bylaws that clearly defines the company as one that conducts business according to specific religious tenets. This will go a long way toward ensuring that there will be no question about the legal protections afforded to the company under the Hobby Lobby ruling.

[Alberta's Child]

Sorry -- correction there:

The Hobby Lobby case was NOT decided on religious freedom grounds, but the court opened a huge door for future cases by recognizing the religious freedom of Hobby Lobby as a corporation.