Paula Bolyard "The letter noted that the federal government and eighteen states have Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs) that require the government to have a compelling interest before burdening a person’s religious exercise. The legal scholars assert that the standard makes sense. “We should not punish people for practicing their religions unless we have a very good reason.” Arizona has had a RFRA in place for nearly fifteen years with only a handful of cases and little controversy. SB 1062 merely sought to clear up two ambiguities in the existent law:
It would provide that people are covered when state or local government requires them to violate their religion in the conduct of their business, and it would provide that people are covered when sued by a private citizen invoking state or local law to demand that they violate their religion.
But nothing in the amendment would say who wins in either of these cases. The person invoking RFRA would still have to prove that he had a sincere religious belief and that state or local government was imposing a substantial burden on his exercise of that religious belief. And the government, or the person on the other side of the lawsuit, could still show that compliance with the law was necessary to serve a compelling government interest. [Emphasis original]
"Given the unadulterated spin characterizing this as an anti-gay hate bill, it would have taken a great deal of moral courage for Brewer to sign it. The truth was so obscured by the widespread propaganda that she would have paid an extraordinary political price. As has often happened in the debate over same-sex marriage, truth took a back seat to the meme. Unfortunately, Brewer’s constituents, who depended on her to defend their religious liberty, may now be the ones to pay the price."
From National Review Online: Celebrate, or Else
NRO appears now to be subscription only, so this was the most I could get.
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