Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/13pdf/13a1284_ap6c.pdf
Page Number: 11

Cite as:  573 U. S. ____ (2014) 

11 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

choice to opt out of it.5 

Let me be absolutely clear: I do not doubt that Wheaton
genuinely  believes  that  signing  the  self-certification  form
is  contrary  to  its  religious  beliefs.    But  thinking  one’s 
religious  beliefs  are  substantially  burdened—no  matter 
how sincere or genuine that belief may be—does not make
it so. 

An  analogy  used  by  the  Seventh  Circuit  may  help  to
explain why Wheaton’s complicity theory cannot be legally 
sound: 

“Suppose it is wartime, there is a draft, and a Quaker
is  called  up.    Many  Quakers  are  pacifists,  and  their
pacifism  is  a  tenet  of  their  religion.  Suppose  the 
Quaker who’s been called up tells the selective service 
system  that  he’s  a  conscientious  objector.    The  selec-
tive  service  officer  to  whom  he  makes  this  pitch  ac-
cepts the sincerity of his refusal to bear arms and ex-
cuses  him.    But  as  the  Quaker  leaves  the  selective 
service  office,  he’s  told:  ‘you  know  this  means  we’ll 
have to draft someone in place of you’—and the Quaker 
replies  indignantly  that  if  the  government  does
that, it will be violating his religious beliefs.  Because 
his  religion  teaches  that  no  one  should  bear  arms, 
drafting another person in his place would make him 
responsible  for  the  military  activities  of  his  replace-
ment, and by doing so would substantially burden his 
own  sincere  religious  beliefs.    Would  this  mean  that 
by  exempting  him  the  government  had  forced  him  to 

—————— 

5 Wheaton  notes  that  the  back  of  the  self-certification  form  provides 
third-party  administrators  with  notice  of  their  regulatory  obligations.
See Emergency Application for Injunction Pending Appellate Review 8;
see also Appendix, infra.  That notice is merely an instruction to third-
party  administrators;  it  is  not  a  part  of  any  of  the  representations
required  on  the  front  of  the  form.    No  statement  to  which  Wheaton 
must assent in any way reflects agreement with or endorsement of the 
notice.