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Hobby Lobby Fined $3 Million over Looted Iraqi Artifacts

HeadlineJul 07, 2017

Back in the United States, the Christian craft chain store Hobby Lobby has agreed to pay a $3 million fine and return thousands of artifacts looted from Iraq. Federal prosecutors say Hobby Lobby spent over $1.5 million in 2010 to purchase more than 5,000 Iraqi artifacts from a dealer based in the United Arab Emirates. The sales violated a ban on the sale of Iraqi cultural artifacts in place since 2004. Hobby Lobby’s owners are conservative Christians who plan to open a Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., this fall. In 2014, Hobby Lobby won a landmark decision at the Supreme Court, which ruled that private companies that claim religious objections can refuse to provide birth control coverage to employees.

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