Featuring the authors Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute; and David Gans, Director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship Program, Constitutional Accountability Center; with comments by Randy Barnett, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, Georgetown University Law Center; moderated by Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute.
In an engaging new book, David Gans and Ilya Shapiro provide a comprehensive analysis of the issues in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the blockbuster legal challenge to the Obamacare regulation that required employer-sponsored health plans to provide “free” contraceptive coverage. In a series of debates, these opposing advocates examine whether for-profit corporations can assert religious-exercise claims under federal law, whether businesses (or their owners/directors/officers) with religious objections should be exempt from coverage requirements, and what the consequences would be if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby. The Court’s decision will be discussed for years and this spirited debate will provide fascinating and informative food for thought for scholars, students, and the public as they grapple with fundamental questions of corporate personhood, religious liberty, and health care policy. Please join us for a reprise of these debates, with commentary by the architect of the constitutional challenge to Obamacare’s individual mandate, Professor Randy Barnett.
