Saturday, July 31, 2004

Michelle O’Connor (Quinnipiac) has published The Religious Freedom Restoration Act: Exactly What Rights Does It “Restore” in the Federal Tax Context?, 36 Ariz. St. L.J. 321 (2004). Here is part of the Conclusion:

As this article has illustrated, courts generally have not provided adequate review of tax claims under the Free Exercise Clause. Unfortunately, the enactment of RFRA has not altered the status quo. Instead, courts have continued to dismiss summarily religious challenges to the tax laws, seldom doing more than reciting RFRA’s requirements. The courts have spurned serious consideration of any suggested accommodation–even where a taxpayer has suggested a reasonable accommodation–that would require the government to use alternative means to advance its interest. Under the current approach, it thus seems highly unlikely that the courts will ever require the government to accommodate a taxpayer, even in a particularly compelling case….