NY Times: “Last year, on Feb. 7, lawyers from the Texas attorney general’s office showed up at Annunciation House — a religious nonprofit founded by local Catholics that provides food, shelter and clothing for migrants in El Paso — and demanded “immediate access” to its records regarding its past and current residents.
As Annunciation House explained in a brief to the Texas Supreme Court, the subpoena stated that the shelter would forfeit its right to do business in the state if it failed to comply. Annunciation House requested time to speak to a lawyer, and Texas granted it 24 hours to comply but again threatened to close the shelter if it didn’t.
Annunciation House went to court to try to block enforcement of the subpoena and to clarify its legal obligations, according to the organization’s brief. Texas retaliated immediately; the state filed a counterclaim against the shelter seeking to terminate its corporate charter and end its right to operate in Texas.
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Texas, like the federal government and 27 other states, has passed a religious freedom restoration act. Under the Texas version, which is very similar to its federal counterpart, “a government agency may not substantially burden a person’s free exercise of religion,” unless that agency is advancing a “compelling government interest” and is using the “least restrictive means” of advancing that interest.
Paxton argues that closing Annunciation House won’t substantially burden its free exercise of religion. Why? Because according to Paxton, Annunciation House, which mainly serves the poor, doesn’t engage in many religious rituals.”