No-Fly Case Could Curtail Religious Freedom Suits

The Supreme Court could ban suits against federal officials for violating religious freedom after agreeing to take up a challenge involving Muslim men who claim they were wrongfully placed on the U.S. no-fly list for refusing to act as government informants.

The justices accepted a government petition asking whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act allows suits seeking damages against individual federal employees, in this case members of the FBI. A lower court said it does.

Muhammad Tanvir and other Muslim men sued over claims they were placed on the no-fly list in retaliation for refusing to serve as informants, a task they said would have violated their sincerely held religious beliefs.

In its request for the court to hear the case, the Justice Department said that suits like this will discourage federal officials “from performing their duties by the prospect of litigation and potentially severe personal financial consequences.”

But the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said the law in question plainly permits such suits, allowing the men to go forward with their claims.

The case is FNU Tanzin v. Tanvir, U.S., No. 19-71.