RFRA and the fedl. govt.

[Abner Greene]

     What Chip Lupu and Dan Conkle say make sense (bracketing the
Estab. Cl. issue, Congress may craft religious exemptions pursuant to
various fonts of power -- commerce, bankruptcy, etc.).  However, the
manner of doing this might matter.  If Congress says "we're using section
5 of the 14th Amendment to write RFRA, and to apply to it the federal
govt. and state govts.," then perhaps we have to ask whether section 5
authorizes this, even as to the federal govt.
     There's a question of political economy underlying this -- It's not clear
that the same votes would exist to craft religious exemptions onto zillions
of separate federal statutes.
     So...Lupu/Conkle make sense, but I find the question more
complicated.
     --  Abner Greene, Fordham Univ. School of Law