Religion Law Quiz #59 (Play in the Joints)

“OUCH!!“ exclaims Mike in pain.  He has done something to his lower back and it is now really tight and locked up.  Mike had been planning on Saturday morning to go on a really long jog followed by a good morning of doing some yard work with the nice spring weather.  But with no real movement in his joints, he is forced to hobble around and accomplish significantly less than what he could otherwise do if he were healthy.  In his pain, Mike starts asking himself: Is there some analogy here to the First Amendment? 

 

(Scroll down for the answer)

 

Answer: Yes.  Just like a lower back needs “play in the joints” to properly function, so too there must be “play in the joints” between the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses of the Constitution.  This is a point the Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized:

 

The Religion Clauses of the First Amendment provide that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” We have recognized a “ ‘play in the joints’ between what the Establishment Clause permits and the Free Exercise Clause compels.”     Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, 582 U.S. ––––, ––––, 137 S.Ct. 2012, 2019, 198 L.Ed.2d 551 (2017) (quoting Locke v. Davey, 540 U.S. 712, 718, 124 S.Ct. 1307, 158 L.Ed.2d 1 (2004)).

 

Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, 140 S.Ct. 2246, 2254 (2020).  In case you are wondering, the “Mike” in this story is yours truly and I hurt my back last week but fortunately it has been improving and flexibility is returning.  In my healing process I came across this quote and thought it was a very apt analogy for a very important principle of law. 

 

 

Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.