Rick Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame law school, cautioned that not all the court’s decisions in favor of religious groups have been strictly divided along ideological lines. Among the cases he cited was a unanimous decision in 2012 exempting a religious school from an employment discrimination lawsuit. He also disputed the notion that the Roberts court has distorted the promise of religious freedom. Instead, it has undertaken “doctrinal repair” of cases that disfavored religious exercise, he said. Citing the Ten Commandments case, he added, “It remains to be seen whether this doctrinal repair that I’m talking about is going to be extended into this realm of what’s happening in the public school classroom.”
