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Dignity Health, dba Mercy San Juan Medical Center v. Evan Minton
Paid petition · Court of Appeal of California, First Appellate District, No. A153662 · judgment September 17, 2019
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
Petitioner Dignity Health d/b/a Mercy San Juan Medical Center (“Mercy”) is a Catholic hospital that seeks to further the healing ministry of Jesus by caring for the sick in accordance with Catholic teachings. Mercy provides compassionate care to all patients without discrimination but is prohibited from allowing certain procedures that violate Catholic teachings. Respondent brought suit against Mercy under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act after Mercy declined to allow an elective sterilization procedure that was prohibited by the Ethical and Religious Directives that govern Catholic health care institutions. The California Court of Appeal rejected Mercy’s First Amendment defenses, relying on earlier precedent purporting to apply this Court’s decision in Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990). The questions presented are:
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Does the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment bar a state-law claim that seeks to compel a religiously affiliated hospital to allow medical procedures that violate its longstanding, deeply held religious beliefs?
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Do the First Amendment’s free expression and free association guarantees bar a state-law claim that seeks to compel a religiously affiliated hospital to allow—and thereby endorse and be associated with— medical procedures that violate its longstanding, deeply held religious beliefs?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Jeffrey Matthew Harris
Consovoy McCarthy PLLC
For respondent
Amanda Chloe Goad
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 7 conferences
Amicus briefs
5 cert-stage
Proceedings
- Nov 01 2021Petition DENIED. Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, and Justice Gorsuch would grant the petition for a writ of certiorari.
- Oct 25 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/29/2021.
- Oct 12 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/15/2021.
- Oct 04 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/8/2021.
- Sep 08 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
- Jul 02 2021Rescheduled.
- Jul 01 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 7/1/2021.
- Jun 22 2021Supplemental brief of respondent Evan Minton filed.
- Jun 21 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/24/2021.
- Jun 21 2021Supplemental brief of petitioner Dignity Health d/b/a Mercy San Juan Medical Center filed. (Distributed)
- Jul 29 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
- Jul 28 2020Reply of petitioner Dignity Health d/b/a Mercy San Juan Medical Center filed. (Distributed)
- Jul 15 2020Brief of respondent Evan Minton in opposition filed.
- Apr 16 2020Brief amici curiae of Catholic Medical Association and National Catholic Bioethics Center filed.
- Apr 16 2020Brief amicus curiae of Providence St. Joseph Health filed.
- Apr 16 2020Brief amicus curiae of Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence filed.
- Apr 16 2020Brief amici curiae of Catholic Health Association of the United States, Alliance for Catholic Health Care filed.
- Apr 13 2020Brief amicus curiae of Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty filed.
- Mar 24 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 15, 2020.
- Mar 23 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 16, 2020 to July 15, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
- Mar 13 2020Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 16, 2020)