Filed: Sep. 08, 2014
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit _ No. 12-3357 _ Frank R. O’Brien, Jr.; O’Brien Industrial Holdings, LLC lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiffs - Appellants v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Sylvia Mathews Burwell, in her official capacity as the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services; United States Department of the Treasury; Jacob J. Lew, in his official capacity as the Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury; Unit
Summary: United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit _ No. 12-3357 _ Frank R. O’Brien, Jr.; O’Brien Industrial Holdings, LLC lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiffs - Appellants v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Sylvia Mathews Burwell, in her official capacity as the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services; United States Department of the Treasury; Jacob J. Lew, in his official capacity as the Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury; Unite..
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United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________
No. 12-3357
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Frank R. O’Brien, Jr.; O’Brien Industrial Holdings, LLC
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiffs - Appellants
v.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Sylvia Mathews Burwell, in her
official capacity as the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and
Human Services; United States Department of the Treasury; Jacob J. Lew, in his
official capacity as the Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury;
United States Department of Labor; Thomas E. Perez, in his official capacity as
Secretary of the United States Department of Labor
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees1
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Catholic Medical Association; Christian Medical Association; Liberty, Life, and
Law Foundation; Archdiocese of St. Louis; Ethics and Religious Liberty
Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Women Speak for Themselves;
Bioethics Defense Fund; Life Legal Defense Foundation; Association of American
Physicians & Surgeons; National Catholic Bioethics Center; Institutional
Religious Freedom Alliance; American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians &
Gynecologists; Physicians for Life; National Association of Pro Life Nurses;
Association of Gospel Rescue Missions; Prison Fellowship Ministries;
Association of Christian Schools International; National Association of
Evangelicals; Patrick Henry College; Christian Legal Society; David M. Wagner;
1
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), the following
automatic substitutions of public officers occur: Secretary Burwell for Kathleen
Sebelius, Secretary Lew for Timothy Geithner, and Secretary Perez for Hilda Solis.
Bradley P. Jacob; Charles E. Rice; Common Good Foundation; Catholic Online,
LLC; Common Good Alliance; Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
lllllllllllllllllllllAmici on Behalf of Appellants
National Health Law Program; Americans United For Separation of Church and
State; The Center for Reproductive Rights; American Public Health Association;
Guttmacher Institute; National Family Planning & Reproductive Health
Association; National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health; National Women’s
Health Network; Physicians For Reproductive Choice and Health; Professor James
Trussell; Professor R. Alta Charo; Professor Susan F. Wood; Reproductive Health
Technologies Project; American Civil Liberties Union; American Civil Liberties
Union of Eastern Missouri; Anti-Defamation League; Interfaith Alliance
Foundation; Unitarian Universalist Association; Unitarian Universalist Women's
Federation; National Council of Jewish Women; Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice; Union for Reform Judaism; Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist
Organization of America, Inc.; Central Conference of American Rabbis; Women
of Reform Judaism; National Women’s Law Center
lllllllllllllllllllllAmici on Behalf of Appellees
____________
Appeal from United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
____________
Submitted: October 24, 2013
Filed: September 8, 2014
[Published]
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Before RILEY, Chief Judge, COLLOTON and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
In light of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. ___, ___,
134 S. Ct.
2751, 2785 (2014), the appellants’ complaint submits a facially plausible claim for
relief under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1(a)
to (c). See Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). It thus appears unnecessary
to address the appellants’ remaining claims, see Hobby Lobby, 573 U.S. at ___, 134
S. Ct. at 2785, and the doctrine of constitutional avoidance particularly counsels us
not to give unnecessary answers to constitutional questions, see, e.g., Ashwander v.
TVA,
297 U.S. 288, 345-48 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring).
We reverse the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) dismissal of the
appellants’ RFRA claim, vacate the dismissal of the appellants’ remaining claims
without expressing any view on the merits, and remand for further proceedings
consistent with Hobby Lobby.
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