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Freedom of Religion. "The encroachment of antidiscrimination laws on civil liberties has become so commonplace that new examples of the phenomenon usually elicit yawns. But even the jaded may find their breath taken away by Monday's stunning decision of the California supreme court holding that Catholic Charities could be compelled to violate Catholic doctrine by offering its employees insurance coverage for contraceptive products .. The court relied on the U.S. Supreme Court's 1990 decision in Employment Division v. Smith for the proposition that sincerely held religious objections "do not excuse compliance with otherwise valid laws regulating matters the state is otherwise free to regulate."

Justice Janice Brown, nominated by President Bush to the federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote the masterful dissent. She noted that Smith applied directly only to individual religious claimants, not to the religious conduct of religious organizations. Religious organizations are clearly entitled to an exemption from government regulation when they are engaged in "ministerial" activities central to their religious mission. One could hardly imagine, for example, that the government could force the Catholic Church to hire female priests without violating the Church's free-exercise rights .. ". more DAVID BERNSTEIN.