RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS

Executive Order 13798, § 4 (May 4, 2017)

Does anyone know if Executive Order 13798 is still a valid EO, or is it being retired like the Constitution?

Haven't heard it referenced by anyone (even LPAs) in defense of religious exemptions for mandates,

except by the US DOJ Attorney General's Memorandum of October 6, 2017.

DOJ PRESS RELEASE: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1001891/download

How could anyone, especially in the Military, be denied a religious exemption if this EO is still valid?

[SUMMARY of EO]

1. The freedom of religion is a fundamental right of paramount importance, expressly protected by federal law.

2. The free exercise of religion includes the right to act or abstain from action in accordance with one's religious beliefs.

3. The freedom of religion extends to persons and organizations.

4. Americans do not give up their freedom of religion by participating in the marketplace, partaking of the public square, or interacting with government.

5. Government may not restrict acts or abstentions because of the beliefs they display.

6. Government may not target religious individuals or entities for special disabilities based on their religion.

7. Government may not target religious individuals or entities through discriminatory enforcement of neutral, generally applicable laws.

8. Government may not officially favor or disfavor particular religious groups.

9. Government may not interfere with the autonomy of a religious organization.

10. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) prohibits the federal government from substantially burdening any aspect of religious observance or practice, unless imposition of that burden on a particular religious adherent satisfies strict scrutiny.

11. RFRA's protection extends not just to individuals, but also to organizations, associations, and at least some for-profit corporations.

12. RFRA does not permit the federal government to second-guess the reasonableness of a religious belief.

13. A governmental action substantially burdens an exercise of religion under RFRA if it bans an aspect of an adherent's religious observance or practice, compels an act inconsistent with that observance or practice, or substantially pressures the adherent to modify such observance or practice.

14. The strict scrutiny standard applicable to RFRA is exceptionally demanding.

15. RFRA applies even where a religious adherent seeks an exemption from a legal obligation requiring the adherent to confer benefits on third parties.

16. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, prohibits covered employers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of their religion.

17. Title VIl's protection extends to discrimination on the basis of religious observance or practice as well as belief, unless the employer cannot reasonably accommodate such observance or practice without undue hardship on the business.

18. The Clinton Guidelines on Religious Exercise and Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace provide useful examples for private employers of reasonable accommodations for religious observance and practice in the workplace.

19. Religious employers are entitled to employ only persons whose beliefs and conduct are consistent with the employers' religious precepts.

20. As a general matter, the federal government may not condition receipt of a federal grant or contract on the effective relinquishment of a religious organization's hiring exemptions or attributes of its religious character.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/10/26/2017-23269/federal-law-protections-for-religious-liberty

DOJ PRESS RELEASE: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1001891/download

Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty, 82 Fed. Reg. 49668 (Oct. 26, 2017)

Justice Manual - Title 1: Organization and Functions -1-15.300 - Principles of Religious Liberty

https://www.justice.gov/jm/1-15000-respect-religious-liberty-0

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RESTORATION ACT OF 1993

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-103hr1308enr/pdf/BILLS-103hr1308enr.pdf

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964

WORD AND DEFINITIONS MATTER