Teleforum

This teleforum addresses the October 6, 2020, Supreme Court oral argument in FNU Tanzin v. Tanvir, which involves the sole question of whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), 42 U.S.C § 2000bb et seq., permits suits seeking money damages against individual federal employees. The underlying facts of the case involve RFRA claims brought by Muslim immigrants to the United States, now U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, who allege they were placed on the No Fly List in retaliation for refusing, on religious grounds, to serve as informants for the FBI. In a 2011 decision, Sossamon v. Texas, the Court held that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a companion statute to RFRA, did not authorize money damages against states. This case represents another look at the remedies available under RFRA and the statutory phrase “appropriate relief.”This teleforum features Stephanie Taub, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute, which filed an ami