U.S. Supreme Court (Creative Commons)

Recognizing a "ministerial exception" to employment discrimination laws, the Supreme Court ruled that churches and religious groups must be allowed to choose and dismiss leaders without government interference on Wednesday. 

The ruling essentially means religious workers can't sue for job discrimination. However, the court stopped short of firmly defining what constitutes a "religious employee."

According to the Washington Post:

"But the high court tempered its decision bolstering the constitutional separation of church and state by refusing to give a detailed description of what constitutes a religious employee, which left an untold number of workers at churches, synagogues and other religious organizations still in limbo over whether government antidiscrimination laws protect them in job bias disputes."

The idea of a "ministerial exception" had formally only been developed in lower court rulings. 

“The interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a unanimous opinion. “But so too is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission.”

Fox News called the ruling "a knockout punch to the White House":

"There was just one big problem standing in the way of the government's plan: the U.S. Constitution. For a long time American courts have recognized the existence of a 'ministerial exemption' which keeps government’s hands off the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ministers or clergy.

"Here, in this case, the Department of Justice had the nerve to not only challenge the exemption’s application but also its very existence."

The Atlantic, on the other hand, called the ruling a "religious double standard":

"It's good to be a religious institution in America, where the right to enjoy public funds may be unaccompanied by the responsibility to comply with generally applicable public laws. In a closely watched religious liberty case, Hosannah Tabor v EEOC, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that churches enjoy broad, barely defined exemptions from civil rights laws in hiring and firing employees they classify as ministerial."