Some timely commentary on the Supreme Court’s decision that the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act violates the religious freedom of Hobby Lobby, a family-owned chain of craft supply stores. The Court ruled that, under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Hobby Lobby is a person who cannot be required to pay for insurance that covers certain forms of birth control, which Hobby Lobby’s owners falsely believe to be abortifacients. 

To learn more about the legal issues involved, check out this very thorough backgrounder from Carmen Green, a recent graduate of Georgetown Law.

• Two-time Hillman Prize-winner Jonathan Cohn in the New Republic

• Dahlia Lithwick in Slate

• Sidney-winner Irin Carmon for MSNBC

• Scott Lemieux in the American Prospect and Lawyers, Guns, and Money

[Photo credit: Nicholas Eckhart, Creative Commons.]