Korte v. Sebelius

Summary

The Seventh Circuit granted the Kortes’ emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal concerning the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. The court held that the plaintiffs had shown a reasonable likelihood of success on their Religious Freedom Restoration Act claim, irreparable harm, and that the balance of harms favored relief. The defendants were enjoined from enforcing the contraception mandate against the Kortes and their company pending resolution of the appeal.

Holdings

1. A motion for an injunction pending appeal is evaluated under the same factors and sliding-scale approach governing a preliminary injunction: the movant must show no adequate remedy at law, irreparable harm, and some likelihood of success on the merits, followed by a balancing of the parties' potential harms.
2. At the preliminary-injunction stage, the plaintiffs demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on their claim that the contraception mandate substantially burdened their exercise of religion under RFRA.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the plaintiffs satisfied the requirements for an injunction pending appeal.
2. Whether the contraception mandate substantially burdened the plaintiffs' exercise of religion under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
3. Whether the plaintiffs demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on their RFRA claim at the preliminary-injunction stage.
4. Whether the plaintiffs established irreparable harm and that the balance of harms favored an injunction.