Ian Batrum has posted Religion and Race: The Ministerial Exception Reexamined. The abstract follows. — MLM

This essay is a contribution to the Northwestern University Law Review’s colloquy on the ministerial exception, convened following the Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC.  I take the opportunity to consider the (sometimes) competing constitutional values of racial equality and religious freedom. I offer historical, ethical, and doctrinal arguments for the position that race must trump religion as a constitutional value when the two come into conflict. With this in mind, I suggest that the ministerial exception should not shield religious employers from anti discrimination suits brought on the basis of race.