Companies Are People...Or Not.

So, where are all my court watchers?  This Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) term is about to get interesting.

This Tuesday, the justices will hear cases about whether or not the government can mandate a company to provide birth control to its employees via the Affordable Coverage Act, known as Obamacare.  Not being a lawyer, I am not sure which way this case goes.

It would seem that the court has two very distinct directions in could lean on.

One, it just said the ACA was legal and appropriate in one of the worst decisions I think I have ever witnessed.  Chief Justice Roberts basically wrote a defense of the ACA on grounds that weren't argued.  He provided the judicial activism conservatives love to hate.  That decision provides the groundwork that the government can tell you what you will buy and when and how whenever it wants to.  The loss of freedom in that basic decision is appealing.  It is almost as bad as the fact that four justices agreed that the government has the right to tell you to buy Coke or Pespi.  What?

The issue here is that there are companies who do not want to provide birth control to their employees saying it goes against their religious beliefs.  That is a serious fundamental question that will make other things interesting to like can I deny you the right to service at my restaurant if I find anything about you contradicts my religious beliefs.

Meanwhile, the Citizens United opinion was clear that companies could spend money on elections because to do otherwise would deprive them of their right to speech.  What company has a right to political speech?  Well, according to SCOTUS, they all do.  That being the case, it should not that big a jump to say companies like Hobby Lobby should also have the right to religious beliefs as well.

Since the First Amendment covers both the right to speech and religious choice one should not be inclined to believe this would be a big jump, but this will be another interesting one for sure.

Hold onto your seats folks...this one will be interesting.