Religious Freedom – Free to Be You & Me
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. – Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, West Virginia State Bd. of Ed. V. Barnette,319 U.S. 624 (1943)
The First Amendment’s religious freedom protection is two pronged: The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. The Establishment Clause most commonly arises in situations like Christmas and holiday displays on government property (think nativity displays on city hall grounds) and prayers at public high school graduations or government/agency meetings. Most commonly, courts will evaluate whether the act or display at issue implies or demonstrates government sponsorship of a particular religion, whether there is actual financial sponsorship (may often comes up in school voucher cases involving private religious schools), and whether the government is involved in the religious activity (via the statute or actual governmental action). Courts will also determine whether, in lieu of actual support, whether there is governmental entanglement such that a particular religion, religious sect, or religious institution benefits.
Challenges under the Free Exercise Clause often arise when a particular religious institution (like a school or church) or specific religious sect argue that a particular regulation infringes upon their right to freely practice. Examples of such challenges include use of certain regulated substances (peyote, animal sacrifice) and regulations concerning use of property purchased (animal sacrifice, construction of religious buildings, alteration of historic sites, burial ground protections, etc.). Often, this clause will be invoked and tagged on with a claim of violation of the establishment clause because the two are usually related because entanglement and support of a religion often interferes also with religious practices.
Whatever your First Amendment religious issue needs, Levine Law Group can help educate and protect your rights!