--- title: Neil Gorsuch: His Record of Protecting Religious Freedom description: The Supreme Court nominee's decision in the hobby lobby case has helped more than Christians canonical: https://time.com/4705858/neil-gorsuch-religious-minorities/ author: Luke Goodrich article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-20T13:00:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:54:50.375Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Neil Gorsuch Has a Record of Protecting Religious Minorities og:description: The Supreme Court nominee's 'Hobby Lobby' decision has helped more than Christians og:url: https://time.com/4705858/neil-gorsuch-religious-minorities/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fc7aa2df8824e87/6988bee7656a3f44b9bcf316/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-nomination-religion-christian-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Judge Neil Gorsuch meets with Lawmakers on the Hill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Neil Gorsuch Has a Record of Protecting Religious Minorities twitter:description: The Supreme Court nominee's 'Hobby Lobby' decision has helped more than Christians twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fc7aa2df8824e87/6988bee7656a3f44b9bcf316/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-nomination-religion-christian-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Neil Gorsuch Has a Record of Protecting Religious Minorities > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Luke Goodrich](https://time.com/author/luke-goodrich/) ## Luke Goodrich Mar 20, 2017 1:00 PM UTC  Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 1, 2017. Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 1, 2017.Samuel Corum —Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Luke Goodrich](https://time.com/author/luke-goodrich/) ## Luke Goodrich Mar 20, 2017 1:00 PM UTC As the nation meets Judge [Neil Gorsuch](http://time.com/4653790/donald-trump-neil-gorsuch-supreme-court/), our newest [Supreme Court](http://time.com/4697246/neil-gorsuch-norm-eisen-letter/) nominee, all eyes are on his most famous case: [_Hobby Lobby_](http://time.com/2941323/supreme-court-contraception-ruling-hobby-lobby/). In it, Judge Gorsuch stood up for a family that faced massive government fines unless they violated their religious beliefs. Critics will say the decision took religious freedom too far; supporters will say it was just right. But with partisan emotions running high, many will miss the biggest story of all: _Hobby Lobby_ was a huge win for people of all faiths — especially religious minorities. If you’re not familiar with _Hobby Lobby_, it began with the Green family — devout Christians who started their family business in their garage and have always run it on Christian principles. They close on Sundays, pay high wages and give all employees generous health benefits, including free coverage for sixteen different kinds of contraception. But in 2012, the government threatened the Greens with multi-million-dollar fines unless they also began paying for four drugs and devices that potentially take a human life. When the Greens refused to violate their conscience, they ended up in court. The Greens relied on a federal civil rights law, the [Religious Freedom Restoration Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/1308), which says that if the government penalizes people for practicing their faith, it must have an extremely strong justification for doing so. Gorsuch ruled for the Greens, concluding that “crippling penalties… running as high as $475 million per year” would force the Greens to choose between “exercising their faith or saving their business,” and that the government had other ways of increasing access to contraception without penalizing the Greens. His ruling was vindicated by the Supreme Court. The first person to recognize the decision’s importance for all faiths — minority ones in particular — was none other than Gorsuch himself. Writing in _Hobby Lobby_, he said, “The \[law\] doesn’t just apply to protect popular religious beliefs: it does perhaps its most important work in protecting unpopular religious beliefs, vindicating this nation’s long-held aspiration to serve as a refuge of religious tolerance.” And that is precisely what _Hobby Lobby_ has done. Consider just three of my clients. Abdul Muhammad is a Muslim prisoner whose faith requires him to grow a beard. Although the prison warden allowed prisoners to grow beards for medical reasons, it refused to allow Muhammad to grow a beard for religious reasons. So Muhammad was forced to go to court. Before _Hobby Lobby_, he lost — twice. But after _Hobby Lobby_, he [won unanimously at the Supreme Court](http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/20/politics/supreme-court-hands-down-prison-beard/), which cited _Hobby Lobby_ no less than ten times. Similarly, Robert Soto is a Native American feather dancer who uses eagle feathers in his religious practices. In 2006, an undercover agent raided his powwow, confiscated his feathers and threatened him with prosecution under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, a law repeatedly invoked to punish Native Americans unjustly. But in 2014, relying on _Hobby Lobby_, a court [ruled in favor of Soto](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-baldeagle-lawsuit-idUSKBN0GK28E20140820) — the first victory of its kind, and a victory directly attributable to _Hobby Lobby_. Finally, Simmer Singh is a decorated Army Captain who is also a devoted Sikh. As a Sikh, Captain Singh must wear a turban, keep his hair unshorn, and grow a beard. But when he enrolled at West Point, he was given a terrible choice: shave his hair and beard or give up his seat at the Academy. Forced to choose between his faith and his country, he chose his country, committing to reclaim the practice of his faith at the earliest opportunity. After _Hobby Lobby_, Captain Singh requested permission to regrow his hair and beard. Relying on _Hobby Lobby_, a court ruled in his favor, and [the Army relented](http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/04/us/sikh-army-captain-simratpal-singh-beard-turban/) — eliminating a ban that had prevented Sikhs from serving our country for three decades. Nor are these decisions anomalies. Relying on the same legal principles at issue in _Hobby Lobby_, Judge Gorsuch himself has protected Native Americans and Muslims who faced needless restrictions on their religious practices in prison. So as the nation meets Judge Gorsuch, pay close attention to the full significance of his decision in _Hobby Lobby_. It was a landmark victory not just for a Christian family but also for a Muslim prisoner, a Native American feather dancer and a Sikh soldier. It was, in short, a victory for people of all faiths. Confirming Judge Gorsuch would be, too. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4705858/neil-gorsuch-religious-minorities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4705858/neil-gorsuch-religious-minorities/"},"headline":"Neil Gorsuch Has a Record of Protecting Religious Minorities","datePublished":"2017-03-20T13:00:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:54:50.375Z","description":"The Supreme Court nominee's Hobby Lobby decision has helped more than Christians","url":"https://time.com/4705858/neil-gorsuch-religious-minorities/","keywords":["Law","Supreme Court"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fc7aa2df8824e87/6988bee7656a3f44b9bcf316/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-nomination-religion-christian-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Luke Goodrich","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/luke-goodrich/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fc7aa2df8824e87/6988bee7656a3f44b9bcf316/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-nomination-religion-christian-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Judge Neil Gorsuch meets with Lawmakers on the Hill","caption":"Judge Neil Gorsuch meets with Lawmakers on the Hill","creditText":"Samuel Corum —Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/law/","name":"Law"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4705858/neil-gorsuch-religious-minorities/","name":"Neil Gorsuch Has a Record of Protecting Religious Minorities"}}]}] ```