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1/After last night’s win for the Buddhist prisoner at #SCOTUS, everyone is asking the same question: Why did the Buddhist case (Murphy) turn out differently from the Muslim case (Ray) just seven weeks ago?
2/Some say it’s anti-Muslim bias. Not so. Just 4 years ago @BECKETlaw won a major religious freedom case 9-0 at #SCOTUS for a Muslim prisoner who wanted to grow a beard. becketlaw.org/case/holt/
3/And the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who wanted to wear a hijab while working for Abercrombie & Fitch. becketlaw.org/case/eeoc-v-ab…
4/Others say it’s timing: The Buddhist filed his case earlier than the Muslim. But as @IlyaSomin noted, the Muslim inmate filed 5 days after his request was rejected; the Buddhist waited 15 days. reason.com/volokh/2019/03…
5/Others say it’s shame: The Court flipped after widespread criticism of its Muslim ruling. Perhaps. Becket criticized that ruling too; see @LukeWGoodrich wsj.com/articles/the-s….
6/But the Supreme Court is used to scathing criticism--that is part of the job--and the ruling got little attention in the Trump-era news cycle.
7/The key difference? The Muslim case was briefed as last-minute, death-penalty gamesmanship. But the Buddhist case had briefing from a reliable, repeat player at SCOTUS, @BECKETLaw, that clearly separated the death-penalty gamesmanship from the core issue of religious freedom.
8/Different legal arguments --> Different result.
9/The proof is in the form of the #SCOTUS ruling. @BECKETLaw disentangled the death-penalty gamesmanship from religious freedom by saying the execution could still go forward—i.e., no execution UNLESS the priest is in the chamber. Court sided with @BECKETlaw:
10/Opinion: “The State may not carry out Murphy’s execution…UNLESS the State permits Murphy’s Buddhist spiritual advisor…in the execution chamber.” supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf…
11/Further proof is in Justice Kavanaugh’s opinion. He says TX can’t discriminate--citing Morris County and Trinity Lutheran. Justice Kagan didn’t cite either case in her dissent in the Muslim prisoner case ...
12/and Murphy didn’t cite either case in his stay request. @BECKETLaw based its argument on them. That carried the day with Justice Kavanaugh.
13/Despite the delight some people take in cooking up narratives based on personalities, we are still a nation of laws not men. As imperfect as any institution run by people will be, courts seek to act on principles.
14/When the law is murky, the job of good advocates is to make those principles clear. And sometimes that makes all the difference. /end
