Who is a Minister? Originalist Deference Expands the Ministerial Exception

Jared C. Huber*

The ministerial exception is a doctrine born out of the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment that shields many religious institutions’ employment decisions from review. While the ministerial exception does not extend to all employment decisions by, or employees of, religious institutions, it does confer broad—and absolute—protection. While less controversy surrounds whether the Constitution shields religious institutions’ employment decisions to at least some extent, much more debate surrounds the exception’s scope, and perhaps most critically, which employees fall under it. In other words, who is a “minister” for purposes of the ministerial exception?

Continue reading in the print edition . . .

*J.D. Candidate, University of Notre Dame Law School, 2024; B.A. in Political Science & Mass Communications, Purdue University, 2021. Thank you to Prof. Nicole Garnett for helping inspire and advise my interest in the intersection of originalism and freedom of religion. In particular, I am deeply grateful to Mary Mancusi, my fiancée, for her encouragement, unwavering love, and valuable feedback. Further thanks go to my friends and fellow editors of the Notre Dame Law Review for their support and edits. All errors are my own. Soli Deo gloria.