Free Exercise - Or the Lack Thereof - Employment Division v. Smith
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Authors
Juster, Sara A.
Issue Date
1991
Volume
24
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|Although the first amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," the United States Supreme Court has not always been the stalwart protector of religious freedom that most Americans perceive it to be. In Employment Division v. Smith, the Court held that the Free Exercise Clause of the first amendment does not require a state to exempt the sacramental use of peyote by members of the Native American Church from an otherwise neutral criminal prohibition against the use or possession of controlled substances. In doing so, the Court rejected the traditional balancing test established fifty years ago in Cantwell v. Connecticut, and instead held that in order to outweigh an individual's free exercise claim a facially neutral law must simply be reasonably related to a legitimate state goal...
Description
Citation
24 Creighton L. Rev. 239 (1990-1991)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law