SCOTUS to decide whether individual federal employees can be sued for violation of religious freedom

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The Supreme Court heard a case Tuesday in which it was asked to rule on whether a person can sue individual members of federal government agencies for violation of their religious freedom, the Washington Examiner reports. The lawsuit being heard was filed by Muslim and religious liberty advocates.

The case in question, Tanzin v. Tanvir, concerns three Muslim men who contend that the FBI put them on a no-fly list in 2013 after they refused to inform on fellow Muslims. The plaintiffs allege individual FBI agents abused their power and violated the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which forbids governments from placing “substantial burdens” on the free exercise of faith.

The plaintiffs are also requesting compensation for harm caused by the FBI’s treatment of them, arguing that the RFRA permits people to seek “appropriate relief” when federal employees violate religious freedoms, the Examiner reports.

The federal government argued that RFRA only permits people to sue the government as a whole, not individuals working on its behalf. The government claims that if the agents could be sued personally, it would mean that even “well-intentioned” federal employees would have to “navigate a minefield of liability that would be difficult to predict or avoid.”

In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, arguments were made in a phone conference in the presence of just eight justices following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A decision is expected in summer 2021, the Washington Examiner reports.

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