This is good

The U.S. Civil Rights Commission issued a report this past Wednesday about the interplay between civil rights and religious liberty.  Without getting into all of the politics involved, I'll just say that it appears to be a victory for civil rights.  You can read a little about it here.

The report had this to say about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which is at the heart of the problem:

"In 2007, President George W. Bush’s Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) authored a memorandum encouraging an overbroad interpretation of RFRA - one which favored religious liberties in hiring over other civil rights considerations.29 This interpretation is in strong contravention to the Commission’s findings and recommendations."

The commission is clearly recommending a return to the primacy of civil rights.  


29 “Application of the Religious Freedom Restoration act to the Award Of a Grant Pursuant to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act," Memorandum Opinion for the General Counsel Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel, June 29, 2007, available at http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/2007/06/31/worldvision.pdf