Today the Supreme Court issued a short per curiam opinion vacating the circuit courts’ respective opinions in the nonprofit contraception mandate cases and remanding them to those circuits, in light of the “substantial clarification and refinement” in the claimants’ and the government’s respective positions that the Court claims was generated by the supplemental briefing. To wit:

Petitioners have clarified that their religious exercise is not infringed where they “need to do nothing more than contract for a plan that does not include coverage for some or all forms of contraception,” even if their employees receive cost-free contraceptive coverage from the same insurance company….The Government has confirmed that the challenged procedures “for employers with insured plans could be modified to operate in the manner posited in the Court’s order while still ensuring that the affected women receive contraceptive coverage seamlessly, together with the rest of their health coverage.”

Disagreements as to implementation to be worked out below.No taxes or penalties on the claimants during the pendency of the new implementation for failure to provide adequate notice to the government. No opinion expressed on the merits (substantial burden, compelling interest, least restrictive means), other than by Justice Sotomayor, who concurred (joined by Justice Ginsburg) in the Court’s order essentially to make crystal clear to the government that she was sympathetic to its views.