University President John Garvey and Robert Destro, professor, law, were quoted in a National Catholic Register story on the May 4 executive order on religious freedom.
Mark Rienzi, associate professor, law, and President Garvey were quoted in a Crux story on the executive order and the Little Sisters of the Poor.
... Anxiety over the long-term status of religious freedom in the wake of political and cultural pushback against believers who object to abortion, contraception and same-sex "marriage" has increased pressure on the White House to move more quickly on a range of issues, and advocates for free exercise rights are clearly divided on a timeline for change.
John Garvey, the president of The Catholic University of America, which has also filed a legal challenge to the mandate, said he was content with the May 4 order.
"I don’t take the position that this is a bad thing because it doesn’t do more,” Garvey told the Register.
But Garvey, an expert in constitutional law, did have some advice for the Trump administration: "amend" the HHS mandate's narrow religious exemption that sparked the litigation, and replace it with a broad exemption for religious nonprofits and closely-held companies like Hobby Lobby. ...
The administration also needs to be staffed with the right people in federal agencies who will be friendly to religious freedom, Professor Robert Destro of Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law told CNA.
“Personnel is policy,” he said, and Trump still needs to make hundreds of hires in these regulatory agencies that interpret existing law, including the agencies that will be dealing with HHS mandate protections for religious organizations. ...
Continue reading in National Catholic Register.
... In an interview with Crux, Rienzi praised that public assurance by Trump.
“The president promised that their lawsuit would soon be resolved,” said Rienzi, who is also a law professor at The Catholic University of America. “The president is quite clear he is going to change the mandate, and the Little Sisters will get their relief. We think it’s very heartening.” ...
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John Garvey, the president of The Catholic University of America, also expressed concern about the government doing away with the Johnson Amendment, saying, “I think it would be a bad thing for the Church if it became a political party or an adjunct of one of the political parties.”
CUA’s president noted that now, the Church “is free to say what it thinks about abortion, family life, the environment or immigration. There’s no law against that.”
But Garvey, whose university was one of the plaintiffs challenging the contraceptive mandate, said he thought the executive order is “a good thing… He (the president) sent a pretty clear signal that religious freedom matters in this administration.” ...
Continue reading in Crux.