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Foothill Church v. Mary Watanabe
3f4th1201
| 9th Cir. | 2021
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Case Information

*1

Before: NGUYEN, HURWITZ, and BRESS, Circuit Judges.

Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge BRESS *2 Foothill Church, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, and Shepherd of the Hills Church (the “Churches”) appeal the dismissal of their second amended complaint (“SAC”) seek ing relief against the Director of the California Department of Managed Health Care (the “Director) . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we review de novo the district court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim. Wilson v. Lynch , 835 F.3d 1083, 1090 (9th Cir. 2016). We affirm in part and vacate in part.

1. We affirm the dismissal of the Churches’ Establishment Clause claim. The Knox- Keene Act and the Director’s 2014 Letters do not create a “facial preference” among religions. Hernandez v. Comm’r , 490 U.S. 680, 695 (1989). On the face of the SAC, all religious organizations can obtain the same limitation on abortion coverage, and no organization can obtain the more extensive limitation the Churches seek. And although facial neutrality “is not determinative,” Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah , 508 U.S. 520, 534 (1993), the Churches have not otherwise alleged a violation under the three-prong test in Lemon v. Kurtzman , 403 U.S. 602 (1971). A rule does not violate the Establishmen t Clause “merely because it ‘happens to coincide or harmonize with the tenets of some or all religions.’” Bob Jones Univ. v. United States , 461 U.S. 574, 604 n.30 (1983) (quoting McGowan v. Maryland , 366 U.S. 420, 442 (1961)).

AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART. [1] Foothill Church v. Watanabe , No. 19-15658

BRESS, Circuit Judge, concurring in part in the judgment and dissenting in part: For the reasons set forth in my dissent from the court’s order vacating and remanding the churches’ Free Exercise Clause and Equal Protection Clause claims, I agree that the district court properly dismissed the churches’ Establishment Clause claim.

[*] Mary Watanabe is substituted for her predecessor, Michelle Rouillard, as Director of the California Department of Managed Health Care. Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2).

[*] This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

[1] We vacate and remand the Churches’ Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clause claims in a concurrently filed order.

Case Details

Case Name: Foothill Church v. Mary Watanabe
Court Name: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Date Published: Jul 19, 2021
Citation: 3f4th1201
Docket Number: 19-15658
Court Abbreviation: 9th Cir.
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