The NY Times is reporting that:
In what may be its most significant religious liberty decision in two decades, the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the first time recognized a “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws, saying that churches and other religious groups must be free to choose and dismiss their leaders without government interference.
I exaggerate only slightly to say that it was getting to the point in the lower courts in which a woman would be able to sue the Catholic Church for employment discrimination for barring her from the priesthood. Indeed, at oral argument, the Obama administration's assistant solicitor general told the court that it "should make no distinction between secular or religious employers," which would head in that extreme direction. So this is a big win for religious liberty.
